Other editions of book The Adventures of Augie March

This is a wonderful book, if wonderful still means full of wonder. It has more conventional virtues as well. Mr. Bellow has taken a legendary time in the United States- the twenties and the depression, and a city, Chicago, that was a legend in that time and set his Ulysses to learning life there. But this is an American legend and an American hero and the author has taken Augie, either in person or his friends, through almost every American experience of the period- slum life, high life, organizing unions, riding the rails, selling paint, grooming dogs, student, thief, etc. as well as lover, friend and a most human human being. The people surrounding him are no less varied and rich in qualities. Through it all Augie moves trying to find his individuality and his destiny. Power after power reaches toward him, or touches him, and teaches him more about himself. It is a book of extremes and superlatives -- rough, funny, sad, wild, tender, vulgar, pure- written in a style that is a mid point between stream of consciousness and conversation- as though Augie were thinking to himself in words..... A gorgeous job, with an enormous impact- both intellectual and emotional- which critical attention and publisher pressure may help to carry to the big market.

Saul Bellow paints portraits of characters like Rembrandt. He has a brilliant technique for divulging not only the physical nuances of his characters but also gets deep into the essence of their souls. He has an astute grasp of motivation and spins a complex tale with an ease that astounds. Even the most unusual twists of fate seem natural and authentic. Augie is a man "in search of a worthwhile fate." After struggling at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a penniless youth in Chicago, he ultimately discovers that alignment with the "axial lines" of his existence is the secret to human fulfillment. While his brother is engrossed in chasing after financial enrichment and social esteem, Augie learns through his own striving that such pursuit is "merely clownery hiding tragedy." Augie is a man dogged in his pursuit of the American dream who has an epiphany that the riches that life has to offer lie in the secrets at the heart's core. If, as Sartre says, life is the search for meaning, then Augie is the inspired champion of this great human quest. The true test of a great book is that you wish it would never end. Fortunately, Saul Bellow is as prolific as he is brilliant and there is much more to explore. Bellow is worthy of the characterization of one of America's best living novelists: he is a treasure. His wisdom staggers the imagination. Don't let this novel pass you by!

[Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.] [Read by Tom Parker - aka - Grover Gardner] Winner of the National Book Award This grand-scale heroic comedy tells the story of the exuberant young Augie, a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Depression. While his neighborhood friends all settle down into their various chosen professions, Augie, as particular as an aristocrat, demands a special destiny. He latches on to a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each one as too limiting. It is not until he tangles with a glamorous perfectionist named Thea, a huntress with a trained eagle, that his independence is seriously threatened. Luckily, his nature, like the eagle's, breaks down under the strain. He goes on to recruit himself to even more outlandish projects, but always ducks out in time to continue improvising his unconventional career. With a jaunty sense of humor embedded in a serious moral view, Bellow's story both celebrates and satirizes the irrepressible American spirit.

[Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.][Read by Tom Parker - aka - Grover Gardner] Winner of the National Book Award This grand-scale heroic comedy tells the story of the exuberant young Augie, a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Depression. While his neighborhood friends all settle down into their various chosen professions, Augie, as particular as an aristocrat, demands a special destiny. He latches on to a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each one as too limiting. It is not until he tangles with a glamorous perfectionist named Thea, a huntress with a trained eagle, that his independence is seriously threatened. Luckily, his nature, like the eagle's, breaks down under the strain. He goes on to recruit himself to even more outlandish projects, but always ducks out in time to continue improvising his unconventional career. With a jaunty sense of humor embedded in a serious moral view, Bellow's story both celebrates and satirizes the irrepressible American spirit.