The Adventures of Augie March
Saul Bellow · 1915–2005 · Canada / USA
Why it matters
'I am an American, Chicago born,' and the American novel got a new voice: torrential, Yiddish-inflected, omnivorous. Bellow's picaresque broke Hemingway's spell and licensed exuberance again.
At a glance
picaresquebildungsroman
Difficulty 7/10fast pace536 pagesTorrential, digressive sentences and a sprawling episodic structure resist quick reading.
Deep dive
What Augie March means when he calls his own life-strategy 'the opposition,' and why an eagle too timid to hunt is the novel's best portrait of its hero.
Where to go next
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Philip Roth · 1969Portnoy's ComplaintLvl 5Fast paced
Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866Crime and PunishmentLvl 6Fast paced
Isaac Bashevis Singer · 1960The Magician of LublinLvl 5Medium pace