The Actual (novel)

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The Actual
TheActual.jpg
First edition cover
Author Saul Bellow
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Viking/Penguin Books
Publication date
1997
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages104
ISBN 0-670-86075-1
OCLC 36017249
813/.52 21
LC Class PS3503.E4488 A63 1997

The Actual is a 1997 novella by the American author Saul Bellow.

Contents

Plot synopsis

Like most of Bellow's fiction, the story centers on the lives of a group of passionate and anxious people living in Chicago. Harry Trellman has formed a friendship with the fabulously wealthy Sigmund Adletsky. Sigmund aims to bring Harry together with Harry's childhood sweetheart, Amy Wustrin.

Reception

Publishers Weekly called it "(a) kind of an affectionate, latter-day 'Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock", in which "plot (is) secondary". [1] Kirkus Reviews considered it to be "witty" and "sharp", with "vividly sketched characters" but "perfunctory" plotting. [2] In the Guardian , Martin Amis called it "scrupulously written". [3]

References

  1. The Actual, reviewed at Publishers Weekly ; published April 28, 1997; retrieved December 9, 2018
  2. The Actual, reviewed at Kirkus Reviews ; published March 1, 1997; archived online May 20, 1997; retrieved December 9, 2018
  3. "Don't call him mellow Bellow". the Guardian. August 17, 1997. Retrieved December 2, 2022.