Herzog is alone now that Medeleine has left him. Locked for days in the custody of his rambling memories, Herzog scrawls frantic letters which he never mails. His mind buzzes with conundrums and polemics, writing in a spectacular intellectual labyrinth. Is he crazy, or is he a genius?

Augie March is a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Great Depression. A 'born recruit', he latches on to a wild succession of occupations, then proudly rejects each one as too limiting. He goes on to recruit himself to even more outlandish projects, but always ducks out in time to continue improvising his unconventional career.

For many years, the great poet Von Humboldt Fleisher and Charlie Citrine were the best of friends. At the time of his death, however, Humboldt is a failure, and Charlie's life has reached a low point. And then Humboldt acts from beyond the grave, bestowing upon Charlie an unexpected legacy that may just help him turn his life around.

A collection of short stories by Saul Bellow. Some stories recount the events of a single day, while some are contained in a wider frame.

A story of a middle-aged American millionaire who, seeking a new, more rewarding life, descends upon an African tribe. Henderson's awesome feats of strength and his unbridled passion for life earns him the admiration of the tribe - but it is his gift for making rain that turns him from mere hero into messiah.

When his induction into the army is delayed, Joseph finds himself facing a year of idleness. This journal presents an account of his restless wanderings through Chicago's streets, his musings on the past, his psychological reaction to his inactivity while war rages around him, and his uneasy insights into the nature of freedom and choice.

Dean Corde is a man of position and authority at a Chicago university. He accompanies his wife to Bucharest where her mother lies dying in a state hospital. As he tries to help her grapple with an unfeeling bureaucracy, Corde is troubled: at home the centre is not holding firm, in Eastern Europe authority is cruel and dehumanising.

Mr Artur Sammler, a lecturer at Columbia University in 1960s New York City, is a registrar of madness, a refined and civilized being caught among people crazy with the promises of the future (moon landings, endless possibilities). His Cyclopean gaze reflects on the degradations of city life while looking into the sufferings of the human soul.

Abe Ravelstein is a professor who has lived much beyond his means. His close friend Chick suggests that he put forth a book of his convictions and much to his surprise, he does and becomes a millionaire. Ravelstein suggests in turn that Chick write a memoir. But, the mood turns somber once Ravelstein succumbs to AIDS and Chick himself nearly dies.

In the mid-1970s, Saul Bellow visited Israel. This book presents his account of his time there. Immersing himself in its landscape and culture, he records the opinions, passions and dreams of Israelis of varying viewpoints - from Prime Minister Rabin, novelist Amos Oz and the editor of an Arab-language newspaper to the barber at Bellow's hotel.

Leventhal is a natural victim; a man uncertain of himself, never free from the nagging suspicion that the other guy may be right. So when he meets a down-at-heel stranger in the park one day and finds himself being accused of ruining the man's life, he half believes it. He can't shake the man loose, can't help becoming - a victim.

Fading charmer, Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, he still retains a boyish impetuousness that has brought him to the brink of chaos: he is separated from his wife and children, at odds with his vain, successful father, failed in his acting career, and in a financial mess.

Presents a story which belongs to Harry Trellman, an aging, astute businessman who has never belonged anywhere.

This is the fictional autobiography of an adventurer and poker-player who sets off from his native Chicago in the spirit of a latter-day Columbus to rediscover the world, and more especially, 20th-century America.

Kenneth Trachtenberg, has left his native Paris to be near his beloved uncle Benn Crader, who lives from affair to affair and from bliss to breakdown . As Kenneth grapples with his own problems, the two men try to figure out why gifted and intelligent people invariably find themselves knee-deep in the garbage of a personal life .

In these collection of nonfiction essays Bellow demonstrated his vigilance of and loyalty to his country over a span of 45 years.