No one could accuse Atlas of idealising his subject. This is a shrewd, candid and frequently critical study of the tough genius that is Saul Bellow. Even admirers will wince at our hero's appalling behaviour. Be warned - here is the 1972 Nobel Literature Laureate as philosopher, street fighter, hero, coward, lively wit and complete jerk. In between the drama of the real life came the fabulous fiction that emerges as strongly autobiographical. Atlas above all stresses that it was Bellow as a Jewish writer in a WASP-dominated US literary scene who first jumped the fence to become a truly American writer.
The man, his rage, ego, ambition, insecurity and art are explained with breathtaking tenacity.
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