This book demonstrates the complexity of Bellow's work by emphasizing the ways in which it reflects the changing conditions of American identity.

Chronology; Introduction. Saul Bellow in his times Victoria Aarons; 1. Bellow's early fiction and the making of the Bellovian protagonist Philippe Codde; 2. Seize the Day: Bellow's novel of existential crisis Hilene Flanzbaum; 3. Bellow's breakthrough: The Adventures of Augie March and the novel of voice Steven G. Kellman; 4. Bellow's cityscapes: Chicago and New York Gustavo Sánchez Canales; 5. Bellow and the Holocaust Victoria Aarons; 6. Humboldt's Gift and Bellow's intellectual protagonists S. Lillian Kremer; 7. On being a Jewish writer: Bellow's post-war America and the American Jewish diaspora Alan L. Berger; 8. Bellow and his literary contemporaries Timothy Parrish; 9. Women and gender in Bellow's fiction: Herzog Paule Lévy; 10. Race and cultural politics in Bellow's fiction Martin Urdiales-Shaw; 11. Bellow on Israel: to Jerusalem and back Leona Toker; 12. Bellow's nonfiction: it all adds up Sukhbir Singh; 13. Bellow's short fiction David Brauner; 14. The late Bellow: Ravelstein and the novel of ideas Leah Garrett; Guide to further reading; Index.