Description
Book Synopsis''I think it A Work of genius, I think it The Work of a Genius'' John Cheever
For many years, the great poet Von Humboldt Fleisher and Charlie Citrine, a young man inflamed with a love for literature, were the best of friends. At the time of his death, however, Humboldt is a failure, and Charlie''s life has reached a low point: his career is at a standstill, and he''s enmeshed in an acrimonious divorce, infatuated with a highly unsuitable young woman and involved with a neurotic mafioso. And then Humboldt acts from beyond the grave, bestowing upon Charlie an unexpected legacy that may just help him turn his life around.
Trade ReviewBellow at his best ... funny, vibrant, ironic, self-mocking and wise * San Francisco Examiner *
There was something about Humboldt's Gift - the sheer ecstatic pleasure of the writing, the intensity of the imagery, the entrancing ability to combine high comedy with deeply serious intellectual ideas, the astonishing talent for describing faces, the warm affection for Chicago characters - which excited me almost beyond endurance -- Justin Cartwright * New Statesman *
It has always been on the cards that Saul Bellow would write The Great American Novel. With Humboldt's Gift, I think that he has achieved this. -- David Holloway * Telegraph *
