Herzog.

BELLOW, Saul.

$750.00

Item Number: 118261

London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1965.

First British edition of the author’s second of three National Book Award winning novels, which was and remains an unprecedented literary accomplishment. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Sally S. from S. Bellow Best wishes Oct 10 ’91 Chicago, Ill.” The recipient, British photojournalist Sally Soames, worked for The Sunday Times from 1968 until 2000 and was highly regarded for her exclusively black and white portraits of many of the most prominent figures of the 20th century including Menachem Begin, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Thatcher, Sean Connery, Rudolf Nureyev, Alec Guinness and Andy Warhol. Soames, who was known to be a warm and personal journalist, performed extensive research on the subjects of her photographs and developed intimate rapports with them during her process resulting in intimate and revealing portraits. In addition to the several world leaders Soames came to know and photograph, she captured the creative energy and personality of some of the world’s most gifted authors, poets, and playwrights. She published two books of photographs during her lifetime, Manpower (1987) with text by Robin Morgan and an introduction by Harold Evans and Writers (1995) with a preface by Norman Mailer. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by John Griffiths.

A novel complex, compelling, absurd and realistic, Herzog became a classic almost as soon as it was published in 1964. In it Saul Bellow tells the tale of Moses E. Herzog, a tragically confused intellectual who suffers from the breakup of his second marriage, the general failure of his life and the specter of growing up Jewish in the middle part of the 20th century. He responds to his personal crisis by sending out a series of letters to all kinds of people. The letters in total constitute a thoughtful examination of his own life and that which has occurred around him. What emerges is not always pretty, but serves as gritty foundation for this absorbing novel. "A masterpiece" (The New York Times). Named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best novels in the English language since Time's founding in 1923.