- Dangling Man
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Dangling Man
1st edition coverAuthor(s) Saul Bellow Country United States Language English Genre(s) Novel Publisher Vanguard Press Publication date 1944 Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) ISBN NA Preceded by first novel Followed by The Victim Dangling Man is a 1944 novel by Saul Bellow. It is his first published work.
Plot summary
Written in diary format, the story centers on the life of an unemployed young man named Joseph, his relationships with his wife and friends, and his frustrations with life. Living in Chicago and waiting to be drafted, the diary acts as a philosophical confessional for his musings. It ends with his entrance into the army during World War II, and a hope that the regimentation of army life will relieve his suffering. Along with Bellow's second novel The Victim, it is considered his "apprentice" work.
Literary significance & criticism
Some critics including Edmund Wilson and Kenneth Fearing deplored the novel's lack of a definite plot, but praised Bellow's depiction of what they saw as the characteristic features of the generation of American intellectuals raised during the Great Depression. Dangling man can be seen as a superfluous man narrative, raising interesting parallels with Turgenev's 'The Diary of a Superfluous Man' and exploring the 19th century Russian literary concept 'Superfluous Man' through a contemporary American experience.
External links
Works by Saul Bellow Novels and Novellas: Short stories : "Looking for Mr. Green" · "The Gonzaga Manuscripts" · "A Father-To-Be" · "Leaving the Yellow House" · "The Old System" · "Mosby's Memoirs" · "Zetland: By a Character Witness" · "A Silver Dish" · "Him with His Foot in His Mouth" · "Cousins" · "What Kind of Day Did You Have?" · "By the St. Lawrence" · "Something to Remember Me By"
Short story collections : Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories • Him with His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories • Something to Remember Me By: Three Tales • Collected Stories
Non-fiction: To Jerusalem and Back • It All Adds Up
Bibliography of Saul Bellow Categories:- Novels by Saul Bellow
- 1944 novels
- Debut novels
- Novels set in Chicago, Illinois
- 1940s novel stubs
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