Jun 10, 2023
Born on June 10, 1915, in Canada, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Saul Bellow was a renowned American writer and Nobel laureate in literature. On his birth anniversary today, here we list down some interesting facts about the author.
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Bellow was married five times and had four children, including one born at the age of 84. His personal experiences and relationships often influenced his writing.
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In 1976, Saul Bellow became the first American writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature since John Steinbeck in 1962.
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Bellow had a deep connection to the city of Chicago. So much so that he often depicted the city's streets, neighborhoods, and diverse inhabitants in his novels, making Chicago a vivid presence in his works.
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Besides winning the Nobel Prize, Bellow received numerous other prestigious literary awards throughout his career, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1976. He was also awarded the National Book Award for Fiction three times, in 1954, 1965, and 1971.
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Bellow's unique voice and innovative writing style had a profound impact on American literature. He is often regarded as one of the key figures of the post-World War II literary movement known as the "Chicago School”.
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At the age of eight, Bellow contracted a severe respiratory infection that necessitated a lengthy six-month hospital stay. It was during this period that Bellow's enduring passion for reading took root.
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Bellow found himself embroiled in controversy when he posed a question about multiculturalism: "Who is the Tolstoy of the Zulus? The Proust of the Papuans? I'd be glad to read him." However, his statement was interpreted by some as an offensive remark towards non-Western literature.
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Bellow expressed his opposition to the concept of "deep reading" in an essay titled "The Search for Symbols, a Writer Warns, Misses All the Fun and Fact of the Story," published in The New York Times. In the essay, he argued against the excessive emphasis placed on deciphering symbols in literature.
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