Saul Bellow 1915 - 2005

It was sad to read today of Saul Bellow's death. He was, without question, one of the greatest writers of the modern era.
Personally, my reading of his novels began in the summer of 1965, when I chanced upon a copy of "Seize the Day" while my mother and I were staying in New York for a few days waiting for our ship to depart for Sweden. Even though I was really impressed by this short novel, it would take another 34 years before I read him again. In 1999, I read his last book, "Ravelstein", based loosely on the life of his friend Allan Bloom. After reading this magnificent work, I decided to go back and read his previous novels. What an amazing body of work! I have not yet read all of his 16 novels, but I'm well on the way.