There is ample evidence to support either conclusion. Bellow’s writing certainly racked up several lifetime’s worth of plaudits — Leader calls him “the most decorated writer in American history, the winner, among other awards, of the Nobel Prize for Literature, three National Book Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Forementor Prize...” and so on.
Add to that list being featured on a United States Postal Service stamp, to be unveiled Tuesday at his home base of more than half a century, the University of Chicago.
Of course, given that U.S. stamps have honored Tweety Bird, Raymond Burr and popsicles, that might not be the accolade it once was, and that too is somehow fitting for Bellow, who liked to gnaw on his prizes to gauge their authenticity.
If you read the James Atlas biography, the J-word certainly suggests itself. The moment burned into my brain is after Bellow won the Nobel Prize in 1976. In later years, when Nobel season rolled around again, he would fall into a funk.
“Better watch out for Saul Bellow today; he’s in a bad mood,” a friend once cautioned a mutual colleague. “The Nobel Prize is being announced, and you can’t win twice.”
Speaking of his “jerk” side, well, where does one begin? That he was married five times and had countless affairs is often mentioned prominently. He was an unaffectionate, absent father, according to his son Greg.
Bellow’s own father certainly agreed he was a jerk.
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I never heard of a three ounce stamp before. Is there any significance why he's getting that, instead of a standard first class forever stamp?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the Post Office chose "3 ounce" rather than a standard first class forever stamp, but even though it quite possibly would have pissed off hypersensitive Saul, the stamp is worth $1.16, i.e. the equivalent of one regular first class stamp and two extra- ounce stamps, I believe.
Deletejohn
Wow, that’s amazing a real jerk who would admit to jerkdom. I used to drive the Dan Ryan. I know full-well that some perceived me as a jerk, but I was just running late! Sorry!
ReplyDeleteSorry we were in your way, but you were not the only one!
Delete😂
DeleteSydney J. Harris was great. I just looked up some of his quotes, and he had a million of them. He died in the mid-1980s but here's one that sure talks to today's world:“The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.” I liked some of Bellow's short stories. I never finished one of his novels.
ReplyDeleteJack
My favorite of his, which I believe he stole from somewhere else...was: "There is no such thing as bad weather...there are only different kinds of good weather." I spent 42 years in Illinois...and I totally disagree. That's pure, unadulterated bullshit. Winter in Illinois sucks...and summertime can be brutal. I can no longer take excessive heat, so I'm glad I'm out of the kitchen. Northeast Ohio's summers are a lot more tolerable than Chicago's are. (SG)
DeleteAn event not to missed! @ UChicago February 6 @ 11 am. https://events.uchicago.edu/event/228772-first-day-of-issue-ceremony-for-postage-stamp!
ReplyDeleteProbably a jerk.
ReplyDeleteSidney J was a favorite, he usually gave you something to ponder. Your review of Augie March is about what I thought of the book.
ReplyDeleteAn unreadable jerk.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the paywall?
ReplyDeleteNo paywall. You just have to register.
DeleteI'm no art critic, but I really don't like whatever style or approach that stamp represents. Is it just me or does it look like it was done by a talented 8th-grader? I wonder what Mr. Bellow would think of it, and the 3-ounce designation, as Clark St. and Tate referred to.
ReplyDeleteNow, if you'd written a column when Raymond Burr got a stamp, I might have bought some!
"Those who offer corrections are often wrong themselves," but all I can find via a slapdash bit of googling is a Canadian stamp for Raymond Burr. There was a "Perry Mason" stamp from the Early TV Memories series. I suppose that counts. 😉
Since I'm not a stamp collector, I can't be for sure, I think that might be the first time a CTA L train has been on a stamp.
Delete“Was I a man or a jerk?” At first, I thought this was autobiographical, Neil. Maybe with a link for voting at the bottom of the piece. But no.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, the unequivocal answer would be "both." I guess everyone gets to make their own call.
Only Bellow book I've ever been able to finish was "Augie March." And that was by pure accident. I was picking up my mother-in-law from her card game at the senior center and there was a free copy available. I started reading it while I waited for her, and I couldn't put it down. So I didn't. That had to be in the late Nineties. I still have it. I liked it, but not enough to seek out and read anything else he wrote. Being a Chicago history buff and all that, maybe I should
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember you as something of a philatelist ?
ReplyDeletethe you probably know the three ounce is the standard denomination to honor literary icons. beginning with Ralph Ellison .
The Bellow portrait was created by new jersey artist Joe Ciardiello.
did you know this was going to roll out the same day as the doomsday clock gig?
No, though if they weren't six hours apart I'd have considered stopping by.
DeleteYou could easily spend that much time at The museum of science and industry! 😂
ReplyDeleteI came to read Bellow late -shameful as an English major who taught American Lit.-and I really enjoyed Augie and a few others too. Fine depiction of Chicago at a certain time. And a writer's personal life doesn't affect his talent for writing. So many fine writers and artists have lived awful personal lives.
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