April 7, 2005
Saul Bellow, 1915-2005
For those of you that keep tabs on this site for commentary on visual arts, a detour: Saul Bellow passed away on Tuesday evening, and the notices are rightfully piling up. In the Times, an appreciation by Joseph Berger, one by Michigan Kakatuni, and the obituary; in the Guardian, an appreciation by John Burnside; an idiosyncratic, personal take written by Momus; and Christopher Hitchens's on Slate. I'm waiting for Martin Amis's piece, which is sure to appear soon; his 1983 visit with Bellow, published as "Saul Bellow in Chicago" in The Moronic Inferno, and his long-format essay on The Adventures of Augie March, reprinted in The War Against Cliché (under the section "Great Books"), are both worth tracking down. Amis may be Bellow's greatest contemporary champion. For those of you who wish to read further, The Elegant Variation collects a number of links, including this profile by James Wood from 2000.
Another passing worth noting (although I am not familiar with his writing): Frank Conroy, chair of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, died yesterday at 69. The Times obit is here; letters from his students here; and an interview with Robert Birnbaum here.