On Saul Bellow And The Malevolent Friend
@Tulletilsynet All very well-said. Atlas relates that in an early draft of Herzog (later restricted from scholarly access!), there's a homoerotic scene involving Herzog and Ludwig. Not a sex scene, but charged nonetheless. Agreed that the self-awareness was very circumscribed. This was also a widely shared attitude among his male circles, it seems to me--women as prizes to be won, lost, compared, passed around, etc. Ick.
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On Saul Bellow And The Malevolent Friend
@jfruh Also very fair. I think the drama between Bellow and his wife was more an even playing field, as you suggest, and not unique nor especially dramatic, so I focused on the Bellow-Ludwig axis. To me, that's the more interesting betrayal. (To answer, 1) yes 2) no extended affairs, but almost definitely 3) I don't believe so, could be wrong.)
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On Saul Bellow And The Malevolent Friend
@Moff Very fair point. But can you imagine, when you've just been humiliated and emasculated in front of everyone you know, a) writing about it in an easily recognizable way, and b) making yourself *more* pathetic in the book?
@Tulletilsynet Many thanks. Hope you enjoy.
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On Saul Bellow And The Malevolent Friend
@soprano Thank you very much for your helpful and thoughtful comment. And thanks for the correction. We've made the change above.