A Theft [Hardcover]

Saul Bellow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 043603963X | ISBN-13: 978-0436039638 | Publication Date: June 5, 1989

Corporate executive Clara Velde has little patience with her fourth and current husband. She holds her passion for another man in an emerald ring that disappears repeatedly. Her attempts to recover the precious ring establish her as a genuine heroine.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Nobel laureate's bold experiment here with a trade paperback original is a sonorous statement on the feasibility of the format as a vehicle for serious literature and may, indeed, encourage other notables to follow in his footsteps. Bellow's clever but tender novella is also his first book to feature a woman as its principal character. But the formidable Clara Velde is less an anomaly than a vintage Bellow protagonist in skirts. A fortyish executive of an international publishing group, Clara is "the czarina of fashion writing"; the breadwinner of her family, she is a devoted mother of three daughters, whose father is Clara's fourth husband, a colorless, underemployed couch potato. But like the uncle and nephew in More Die of Heartbreak , whose dignified existences are undermined by restless libidos, Clara's powerful facade is vulnerable to the demands of her heart. Two youthful love affairs gone sour had precipitated suicide attempts, and now she is unnerved by the theft of her emerald ring--an engagement ring from a brilliant man she never married but still adores--by the shifty boyfriend of her au pair Gina Wegman, a singularly incisive, young, upper-class Austrian who has ventured into the "Gogmagogsville" of New York City for excitement. Although Clara employs a private eye, this taut yet characteristically subtle tale is no whodunit; what is redeemed here is not chiefly tangible but Clara's sense of self. If the novella's ending is less than full-scale and his characters engage in the usual brand of "mental" conversations, Bellow is also the ever-perspicacious observer of the human condition and modern-day turmoil, who penetrates the soul of a character with a few nimble sentences. He writes, for example, of Clara's eldest, the needy, stout Lucy: "The two little skinny girls laughed at their sister. They scooped up their snickers in their hands while Lucy held herself like a Roman soldier. Her face was heated with boredom and grievances." 150,000 first printing; QPBC dual main selection; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Bellow decided to publish this novella as a paperback original after two magazines requested substantial cuts. Since the story of the theft of an emerald ring doesn't really start until some two-thirds of the way through, one can understand the magazine editors' rationale. But one doesn't read Bellow just for his plots; one reads him for his marvelous characterization, his verbal dexterity, his trenchant observations, and his philosophical speculations. Fine reading, this novella is also the most concise statement of the idea that has obsessed Bellow since winning the Nobel Prize: He writes not simply about the theft of a valuable ring but also about the theft of our basic humanity (or soul, as he would say) by the civilization that we, both East and West, have created. Vintage Bellow that deserves a place alongside Seize the Day or "The Silver Dish."-- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd (June 5, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043603963X
• ISBN-13: 978-0436039638
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,269,357 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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful piece of writing, February 9, 2002

By 

Mitch Roper (Richmond, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Theft (Hardcover)

This novella is so beautifully written, I stopped after about twenty pages and re-read from the start to savor the writing. Bellow is so good at describing everyday people and things while subtly showing the bigger picture simultaneously...

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A slow-paced novella that comes through in the end, June 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Theft (Paperback)

"A Theft" is kind of a throwaway in Bellow's mighty cannon. Just over one hundred pages long, the book drops you into the High Society world of Clara, who has married four times and is still fond of her first love, who gave her an emerald ring. She gets her strength from this ring, which she loses once, but then recovers, only to have it stolen. Unfortunately, it takes 60 pages to get to the theft, and that first section is little more than monotonous pining over how bad life is for Clara, whom you never feel much for, anyway. But the theft introduces you further to the nanny, Gina, who is a brilliant character. Whenever Bellow concentrates on her deep and interesting problems, the book picks up pace. The final confrontation between Gina and Clara, (Clara believes that Gina's boyfriend, Frederic stole the ring) is so good it makes you wonder just what Bellow could have done if he'd applied this kind of passion to the rest of the book. Not bad, but really for Bellow-collectors only

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Never Thought I Would Give Bellow Three Stars !, September 4, 2007

By 

J. E. Robinson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Theft (Paperback)

Born near Montreal in 1915, Bellow is thought of as a Chicago writer who wrote about life in urban America. His novels feature smooth flowing prose and he won a Nobel Prize in 1976. He hit his peak as a writer between "Augie March" in 1953 and the Pulitzer novel "Humbolt's Gift" in 1973. He wrote from the early 1940s through to 2000. I read 12 of his 13 novels, plus short stories plus this 109 page novella.

When he taught in 1938, he used a reading list which included: Lawrence, Dostoevsky, Dreiser, Joyce, and Flaubert. They were pioneers in realism. Realism became a feature of his novels, and that includes the way in which he treats subjects such as sex, life, death, and the search for self.

All of that is missing here and if anyone thinks this weak 109 page novella from 1989 is a good introduction to the master and Nobel Prize winner they are dead wrong. This is a slow starting novel. Overall it is a weak effort with not much of a finish after 109 pages. At best one is left scratching their head: what is it about? What was the point here? Did I miss something? I went back and read the last 10 pages twice. No you missed nothing. There is not much there.

As a point of reference compare it to The Actual, a similar novella by Bellow. The Actual, which itself is a weaker effort by Bellow, is at least twice as good as A Theft, i.e: it has a good story, interesting characters, some human emotion, etc.

No, this is not Bellow's best nor is it a good introduction to Bellow. It is weak, very, very weak. This book is not to be confused with the best of Saul Bellow or even his average works that he did decades earlier. For example, read Bellow's Herzog written 30 years before and be blown away by excellent writing, the time shifting, the overlays of plots, the multi-layered plot, the stunning prose, and innovation in literature, etc. There is no comparison.

The readers have given an average review rating here of only three stars, somewhat shocking for Bellow, and that pretty well is on the mark compared to his body of work. Neutral to negative recommendation: 3 stars.

For those new to Bellow try these: Humboldt's Gift (Penguin Classics) 1975 Pulitzer Prize, or Herzog (complicated), 1964 National Book Prize, or Ravelstein,for something written when he was older, or the novella The Actual, or his Collected Stories.