As soon as it first appeared in 1953, this gem by the great Saul Bellow was hailed as an American classic. Bold, expansive, and keenly humorous, The Adventures of Augie March blends street language with literary elegance to tell the story of a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Great Depression. A "born recruit," Augie makes himself available for hire by plungers, schemers, risk takers, and operators, compiling a record of choices that is—to say the least—eccentric.
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The Adventures of Augie March is the Great American Novel. Search no further. (Martin Amis)
If there's a candidate for the Great American Novel, I think this is it. (Salman Rushdie)
If there's a candidate for the Great American Novel, I think this is it. (Salman Rushdie)
About the Author
SAUL BELLOW's dazzling career as a novelist has been marked with numerous literary prizes, including the 1976 Nobel Prize, and the Gold Medal for the Novel. His other books include The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, More Die of Heartbreak, Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Seize The Day and The Victim. Saul Bellow died in 2005. Christopher Hitchens (b. 1949) is among the best known and most controversial figures in contemporary media. He is a prolific author, journalist, literary critic, and public intellectual who is often described as a "contrarian". Hitchens has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Nation, Slate and an occasional contributor to many other publications.
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First Sentence
I AM AN AMERICAN, Chicago born-Chicago, that somber city-and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I AM AN AMERICAN, Chicago born-Chicago, that somber city-and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. Read the first page
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Format:Mass Market Paperback
Recently Martin Amis claimed this was the great American novel, and it's as good a candidate as I've read. Bellow's long descriptions of city characters cascade through the mind, and create an instantly memorable style. Writers will be awed.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Recently Martin Amis claimed this was the great American novel, and it's as good a candidate as I've read. Bellow's long descriptions of city characters cascade through the mind, and create an instantly memorable style. Writers will be awed.
By B. Gone
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was the first book that I read by one of this country's most respected writers. While some passages including the ending were poorly conceived and lacked the rest of book's drive, I greatly enjoyed most of it.
Augie, the eternal recruit, is the main character of this novel. For the greater part of the book he has no well defined plan for life and surfs along on waves generated by others. This plot structure allows Bellow to observe and comment upon a wide stratum of human society with often striking results. On top of that he supplies the narrative with an enormous drive, which makes the first half of the book a highly compelling read.
Strangely, both the drive and the so well constructed persona of Augie receive a bad blow by the reappearance of Thea and her eagle. To me the ensuing episode is really at odds with the all what made the preceding part so great. There is virtually no justification why the protagonist so suddenly goes head over heels for a person that had barely interested him before. Moreover, the whole eagle business is bizarre and boring and seemed a train wreck instead of the supersonic ride of the earlier chapters.
After leaving Thea and her disappointing feathered friend south of the border the story again picks up some steam, but loses it's momentum around the aimless end.
While I considered the glass more than half full, it was frustrating to witness the enormous contrast in quality between the best and lesser parts of this book. Based on the best parts, the young author deserved himself a spot among this country's best, while the eagle and the ending would have disappeared in the wastebasket of most of his fellow Nobelians.
In all, an often superior novel with a couple of tough spots. Often a great read, but no Fielding or Dreiser.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive and yet- Saul and Augie, can't we get on with it?
For what has been widely described as both a picaresque and coming-of-age novel, Augie March is neither a quick read nor an easy one. Read more
Published on July 18 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
He Tries!
He is a good-hearted young man who tries to make a go of it, but, as Stella says, falls into the whims and desires of so many people he meets. Read more
Published on Jan 18 2004 by C Brunner
4.0 out of 5 stars
Born on the Fourth of July
An elegant, poetic walk through the life of a uniquely American character. Augie March goes humbly into Depression-era America and, in the search for the best inside himself,... Read more
Published on Dec 23 2003 by Daniel H. Yeary
5.0 out of 5 stars
The American Novel
The perfect gift for any male who has learned to read. Although it is filled with daunting historical and anthropological references, one needn't be afraid to skip them. Read more
Published on Dec 13 2003 by pluto
3.0 out of 5 stars
A nice bunch of short stories
I'm not going to write a long winded literary review. I think this book is best read as a series of short stories. I read a chapter a day and was able to get through it that way. Read more
Published on Oct 14 2003 by T. zisis
5.0 out of 5 stars
An American Luftmensch
This is easily one of the finest novels that I have ever had a chance to read and proves one of the basic rules of good fiction--experience bucks education. Read more
Published on April 15 2003 by Daniel A. Stone
5.0 out of 5 stars
An American Luftmensch
This is easily one of the finest novels that I have ever had a chance to read and proves one of the basic rules of good fiction--experience bucks education. Read more
Published on April 15 2003 by Danny Stone
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatness
This book is greatness. To Soul Wanderer below: Opinions vary.
Published on April 22 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, But Not a Page Turner
The Adventures of Auggie March is a difficult book to read, but when read slowly, it rewards your effort more than most books do. Read more
Published on Feb 22 2002 by -_Tim_-
5.0 out of 5 stars
drop everything. stop and ardour this novel.
absolutely essential if you are a young man (in his twenties) like i am. this is an exploration of a boys quest for other peoples pragmatism which at first, in each case he... Read more
Published on Nov 4 2001 by clayton ayling
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