Jacobs Susan - Ravelstein

Saul Bellow (19152005) is the only novelist to receive three National book awards, for The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, and Mr. Sammlers Planet. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Humboldts Gift. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to him in 1976 for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work. In 1990, Mr Bellow was presented with the National Book Award Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American letters. He has also received the National Medal of Arts. His books include Dangling Man (1944), The Victim (1947), The Adventures of Augie March (1953), Seize the Day (1956), Henderson the Rain King (1959), Herzog (1964), Mosbys Memoirs (1969), Mr. Sammlers Planet (1970), Humboldts Gift (1975), To Jerusalem, and Back (1976), The Deans December (1982), Him With His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories (1984), More Die of Heartbreak (1987), A Theft (1989), The Bellarosa Connection (1989), Something to Remember Me By (1991), It AU Adds Up (1994), The Actual (1997), Ravelstein (2000) and Collected Stories (2001).

I would like to thank my editor, Beena Kamlani, for her talent and her clairvoyance. S. B.

PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS

Just when we didnt expect it, there now wonderfully comes a large new novel from the master Malcolm Bradbury, The Times

In terms of richness of metaphor, fecundity of ideas and sheer undiminished curiosity, theres still no one to beat him

Anthony Russell, Mail on Sunday

Breathtakingly indiscreet Abe Ravelstein is the American mind and Bellow its finest living (thank God) voice

John Sutherland, Sunday Times

Bellows return, with Ravelstein, to an earlier, freer, more voice-driven exuberance is an astonishment to me. I have to keep reminding myself that the author was born, not in 1950, but in 1915

Martin Amis in Experience

Rich and nuanced choice bits of prose appear on every page, glinting like diamonds Mr Bellow, the undisputed emperor of the American sentence, can still make us honorably feel things Ravelstein is his best book in years, were sorry when its over New York Observer

How extraordinary that Bellows substantial new novel should be so full of the old, cascading power, its prose displaying that august raciness one remembers from Herzog and Humboldts Gift, darting with metaphor and wit James Wood, Guardian

Familiar and fresh, streetwise and lyric, possessing all the ease expected of a literary master The genius of this exciting, thoughtful narrative lies in its honesty, its gentle tone, lack of pretension and portrayal of Ravelstein Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

A relaxed and vivid picture of a complex and contrary individual. A startling, fresh, intimate picture Carl MacDougall, Herald

The book rings with laughter and joy Ravelstein is an extraordinary character it is hard not to feel privileged at being allowed a glimpse into a human connection as intimate and rewarding as this one Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World