Him With His Foot In His Mouth and Other Stories (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) [Paperback]

Saul Bellow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998 | Series: Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin

This dazzling collection of shorter fiction describes a series of self-awakenings -- a suburban divorcee deciding among lovers, a celebrity drawn into his cousin's life of crime, a father remembering bygone Chicago, an artist, and an academic awaiting extradition for some unnamed offense.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Saul Bellow was born in Canada in 1915 and grew up in Chicago. He attended Chicago, Northwestern and Wisconsin universities and had a BSc in Anthropology. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, the first American to win the prize since John Steinbeck in 1962. Saul Bellow's books, many of which are published by Penguin, include Dangling Man (1944); The Adventures of Augie March (1953) which, like Herzog (1964) and Mr Sammler's Planet (1970), won the National Book Award; Henderson the Rain King (1959); Humboldt's Gift (1975), which won the Pulitzer Prize; To Jerusalem and Back (1976), his first non-fiction work, and More Die of Heartbreak (1987), amongst many others. Saul Bellow died in 2005. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141180234
• ISBN-13: 978-0141180236
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,382,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Saul Bellow won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel HUMBOLDT'S GIFT in 1975, and in 1976 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 'for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.' He is the only novelist to receive three National Book Awards, for THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH, HERZOG, and MR. SAMMLER'S PLANET

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Master Class in the Short Story, February 15, 2008

By 

An admirer of Saul "Mr Wobble" (uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Him With His Foot In His Mouth and Other Stories (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

Every story in this collection illustrates the range of style and depth of Saul Bellows writing. Every story is outstanding, from the title story (shades of Mosebys memoirs)to the lengthy 'What Kind of Day Did You Have' to Zetland.

The stories all concern the place of the intellectual and art in a society where intelligence is measured by wealth. In a country where the basic needs for living are met, 'phoney' needs are created;status symbols, pseudo intellectualism to create conversation at partys, where people spend all the time they have to pursue great art, philosophy and literature on seeking wealth; selling their souls for a career in some dead beat occupation or image of themselves that no one really believes in but themselves.

Bellow, the great intellectual himself, never loses the reader. His work makes you thirst to read the endless names and book titles he reels off. His style can change so vividly, from the modern (middle class?) style of say 'What Kind of Day..' to the Algrenesque (proletarian?) style of 'Zetland'

If you've never read Saul Bellow, ease in with this fabulous collection.Bellow was awarded the Nobel prize because he was great, not because there was nobody else to give it to as sometimes you're led to think!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff, May 29, 2011

By 

Theo Basalyia - See all my reviews

This review is from: Him With His Foot In His Mouth and Other Stories (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

Bellow is a master because he picks himself apart and then with great discomfort gazes at the fragments that do not fit together and never will.

4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the discomfort of an old shoe, April 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Him With His Foot In His Mouth and Other Stories (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

This is a beautiful reading experience, not without the usual display that Bellows is so masterful in communicating, through gentle suggestion. Banal horrors which a person incorporates into his being and his identity in the methodical manner of a person savoring a meal of shoes come out and glare from the characters like an unmistakable body-odor. If you like this book, then start reading Martin Amis, by all means.