![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Saul Bellow |
---|---|
Language | English |
Publisher | Viking/Penguin Books |
Publication date | 1997 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 104 |
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.
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.
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]