The Life of Saul Bellow

by Zachary Leader

  Barnard, Mary

  Baroja y Nessi, Pío

  Baron, Alvin (Flora and Isidor’s son)

  Baron, Flora (née Dworkin), 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

  Baron, Isidor, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

  Baron, Rose (Isidor’s daughter)

  Baron, Salo

  Barrett, William, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.1, 10.2, 12.1

  Barrytown, New York

  Barshevsky, Yetta, see Gould, Yetta

  Barszcz, James

  Barthelme, Donald

  Barzun, Jacques

  Baudelaire, Charles

  Bayley, John, 14.1, 14.2

  Bazelon, David T.: and Dangling Man, 6.1; uses Yiddish term, 7.1; in New York, 7.2; SB’s correspondence with, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 9.1, 9.2; and SB’s house in Holmes, 7.6; and SB’s accommodation at University of Minnesota, 8.6, 8.7; and SB on Partisan Review, nts.1

  Beach, Dagmar

  Beach, Joseph Warren, 8.1, 8.2

  Beacon, The (magazine), 5.1, 5.2, 5.3

  Beauvoir, Simone de, 9.1, 9.2

  Behrstock, Arthur, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3

  Behrstock, Julian, 5.1, nts.1

  Bell, Daniel, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, nts.1

  Bellarosa Connection, The (SB): and SB’s father’s escape from Russia and prison, 1.1; big women in, 2.1; prison escape in, 4.1; publication, 12.1; on meeting with Billy Rose in Tel Aviv, 13.1

  Bellow, Abraham (SB’s father): background in eastern Europe, 1.1, 1.2; bootlegging in Canada, 1.3; temper and violence, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 3.1; relations with SB, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10; business career, 1.11, 1.12; Jewish observance, 1.13; marriage, 1.14, 1.15; politics, 1.16; in St. Petersburg, 1.17; arrest in Russia and escape to Canada, 1.18, 1.19, nts.1; reading, 1.20, 1.21, 2.1; defiance, 1.22; on 1917 Russian revolution, 1.23; portrayed in SB’s fiction, 1.24; and father’s death, 1.25; early difficulties in Canada, 1.26, 2.2; pictured, 50; praises SB’s Augie March, 1.27, nts.2; moves to Chicago, 2.3; works in Dworkin’s Chicago bakery, 3.2; and arrival of SB’s family in Chicago, 3.3; shaves off mustache, 3.4; earnings in Chicago, 3.5; Americanization, 3.6; as illegal immigrant, 3.7; and Maury’s extravagant behavior, 3.8; starts own fuel business, 4.1; death, 4.2, 5.1, 11.1; SB describes, 4.3; disparages formal education, 4.4; anxiety over SB, 4.5; remarries (Fannie Gebler), 5.2; moves to Evergreen Avenue, 5.3; scorns SB’s politics, 5.4; pays SB’s tuition fees at University of Chicago, 5.5; pays costs of Carroll Coal accident, 5.6; clash with SB, 5.7; objects to SB’s first marriage, 6.1; visits SB in Minneapolis, 8.1; believes SB a failure, 8.2; unimpressed by reviews of The Victim, 8.3; Anita appeals to for money, 11.2; portrayed in “Memoirs of a Bootlegger’s Son,” 11.3; heart trouble, 11.4; changes will, 11.5; leaves money to SB, 12.1; corresponds with Westreichs, 13.1; declines to drive, nts.3; on Rosenfelds, nts.4

  Bellow, Adam Abraham (SB and Sasha’s son): birth, 12.1; childhood, 12.2, 12.3, 13.1; pneumonia, 12.4; and mother’s leaving SB, 13.2; Sasha takes to California, 13.3; stays with Sasha and SB in Minnesota, 13.4, 13.5; career in Minnesota, 13.6; left with McCloskys to babysit, 13.7; and Sasha’s wish for divorce, 13.8, 13.9; sees mother apply makeup, 13.10; SB’s access to, 13.11, 14.1; SB visits in Chicago, 14.2; and SB’s payments to Sasha, 14.3; trust fund under divorce settlement, 14.4; lives with mother in Tarrytown, 14.5; and SB’s sending trash to Sasha, 14.6; on Bloom, nts.1; relations with father, nts.2

  Bellow, Anita (née Goshkin; SB’s first wife): SB in love with, 6.1, 6.2; background, 6.3; beauty, 6.4; marriage to SB, 6.5; works for Chicago Relief Administration, 6.6, 6.7; marriage difficulties and breakup, 6.8, 6.9, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 11.1; dress, 6.10; visits Mexico and infidelity, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13, 11.2; in New York, 6.14, 7.1, 7.2; returns to Chicago and social work, 6.15; pregnancy, 6.16, 7.3; illus., 250; SB returns to after Merchant Marine service, 7.4; moves east with SB and baby, 7.5; returns to Chicago to dying brother, 7.6, 8.5; gives up work during Greg’s early years, 7.7; Greg’s biographical sketch of, 8.6; life in Minnesota, 8.7; pride in SB’s fiction, 8.8; stays behind during SB’s trip to Spain, 8.9, 8.10; alarm at SB’s visit to Cádiz, 8.11; infidelities, 8.12; social life in Minnesota, 8.13; home life, 8.14; in Paris with SB, 8.15, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6; works in Paris for Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 9.7;

  Bellow, Anita (née Goshkin; SB’s first wife): character, 9.1; anger at SB’s affair with Nadine, 9.2; hopes to travel in Europe, 9.3; tours Europe with SB, 9.4; works for Planned Parenthood in Far Rockaway, 9.5; improved relations with SB, 10.1; refuses divorce to SB, 11.1; portrayed in SB’s fiction, 11.2, nts.1; as family breadwinner, 11.3; Nevada divorce, 12.1; SB’s concern at demands, 12.2; divorce settlement, 12.3; and SB’s inheritance from father, 12.4; on Greg as teenager, 13.1; dental work, 13.2

  Bellow, Daniel (SB and Susan’s son): on SB’s change of name

  Bellow, Fannie (formerly Gebler; Abraham’s second wife), 5.1, 11.1

  Bellow, Greg (SB and Anita’s son): on grandfather’s violence, 1.1; on Abraham’s changing will, 1.2; on Maury, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3; on Sam Bellows, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 10.1; on aunt Jane, 4.4; on maternal grandfather, 6.1; and SB’s love for Anita, 6.2; on mother (Anita), 6.3; birth, 6.4; known as Herschel in family, 7.1; SB’s relations with, 7.2, 11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 13.1, 13.2; and McClosky, 8.1; on family arguments, 8.2; childhood in Minnesota, 8.3, 8.4; and SB’s trip to Spain, 8.5, 8.6; in Paris with parents, 8.7, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3; schooling, 9.4, 11.3; SB’s guilt over, 10.2; on parents’ marriage breakup, 10.3; on Jack Ludwig, 11.4; and parents’ divorce, 11.5; acquires dog, 11.6; spends summers at Cape Cod with SB, 11.7, 12.4; SB takes to Lachine, 11.8; SB worries about separation from, 12.5; and SB’s marriage to Sasha, 12.6; on SB’s grief at Rosenfeld’s death, 12.7; stays with SB and Sasha in Germantown, 12.8; stays with Hoffmans, 12.9; differences with SB over interest in stock market, 13.3; visits father after Sasha’s leaving, 13.4; on Larry Kauffman’s suicide, 13.5; adolescent rebelliousness, 13.6; education, 14.1; “Anita Goshkin Bellow Busacca,” nts.1, nts.2; “Biographic Sketch,” 8.8; Saul Bellow’s Heart, nts.3

  Bellow, Jane (SB’s sister), see Kauffman, Jane

  Bellow, Janis (SB’s fifth wife): on SB’s use of real-life characters, itr.1; on genesis of The Bellarosa Connection, 1.1; on SB’s unfinished “Marbles,” 5.1; SB takes on tour of Chicago, nts.1

  Bellow, Liza (née Gordin; SB’s mother; Lescha): marriage and dowry, 1.1, 1.2; family background, 1.3; political indifference, 1.4; wealth, 1.5; friction with Rosa Gameroff, 2.1; and SB’s upbringing, 2.2; arranges piano lessons for daughter Jane, 2.3; and SB’s birth, 2.4; in SB’s fiction, 2.5, 2.6; imperfect English, 2.7, 3.1; death, 2.8, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1; character and qualities, 2.9; portrait photograph, 80; SB’s relations with, 2.10, 3.2; moves to Chicago, 3.3; life in Chicago, 3.4; shrewdness, 3.5; cancer, 3.6, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, nts.1; ambitions for children, 3.7; helps Abraham start own business, 4.9; encourages Sam’s Jewish orthodoxy, 4.10; and daughter Jane’s marriage, 4.11; lacks understanding of education, 4.12; alarmed at SB’s volatility, 4.13; insurance policy benefits SB, 6.1; mocks Christmas, nts.2

  Bellow, Naomi Rose (SB’s daughter)

  Bellow, Sasha (née Tschacbasov; SB’s second wife; Sondra): depicted in Herzog, itr.1, 14.1, 14.2; life with SB, 1.1; employed at Partisan Review, 10.1; as SB’s new girlfriend, 10.2, 11.1; visits Anita Maximilian, 10.3; on launch party for Augie March, 11.2; at Bard College, 11.3, 11.4; unable to cohabit with SB, 11.5; baffled by Reichian therapy, 11.6; domestic life and entertaining, 11.7, 12.1, 12.2; SB complains to, 11.8; family and background, 11.9, 11.10, 13.1, nts.1; molested by father as child, 11.11, nts.2; joins Catholic Church, 11.12; visits Wellfleet, 11.13; SB plans to remain with but remain single, 12.3; leaves public relations job, 12.4; drives West with SB, 12.5; helps with anthology for Viking, 12.6; stays at Pyramid Lake with SB, 12.7; SB proposes marriage to, 12.8; shocked at SB’s affair in Nevada, 12.9; makes wedding arrangements, 12.10; meets SB’s relatives, 12.11; birth of son, 12.12, 12.13; content with early
married life, 12.14; on SB’s relations with Ludwig, 12.15; and acquisition of Tivoli house, 12.16; and Anita divorce settlement, 12.17; gall bladder trouble, 12.18, 12.19; at Minnesota, 12.20; pneumonia, 12.21; with SB at Northwestern, 12.22; devotion to son Adam, 12.23; marriage relations, 12.24, 13.2, 14.3; relations and affair with Ludwig, 12.25, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6; leaves SB, 13.7; returns to Tivoli with Greg, 13.8; moves to California, 13.1; and SB’s return to Minnesota with Ludwig, 13.2; stays with SB in Minnesota on way to California, 13.3, 14.1; studies history at Minnesota, 13.4; therapy with Meehl, 13.5, 13.6; contentment at Minnesota, 13.7; dramatic exaggeration and erratic behavior, 13.8; SB revives relations with, 13.9, 13.10; SB on flaws, 13.11; returns to Tivoli with SB (1959), 13.12; asks for divorce, 13.13; pregnancy and abortion, 13.14, 13.15; cuts hand, 13.16; and divorce proceedings, 13.17; anger at SB, 13.18; divorce finalized, 13.19; in Chicago with Adam, 13.20; SB learns of affair with Ludwig, 13.21, 13.22, 13.23; alimony from SB, 14.2; father sues over mother’s will, 14.3; SB sees in Chicago, 14.4; fight with SB (1962), 14.5; works at Hudson Institute, 14.6; SB sends trash to, 14.7; on SB’s character, 14.8; letter from SB on Ludwig’s Above Ground, 14.9; names, nts.1; leaves Partisan Review, nts.2; inheritance, nts.3; “What’s in a Name?,” 10.1, nts.4, nts.5, nts.6

  Bellow, Saul:

  Academic career: teaching and life at Bard College, 1.1, 11.1; anthropological studies and interests, 5.1, 5.2, 7.1; teaches at Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers College, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3; teaching at University of Minnesota, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 13.1; rents out rooms to students in Minneapolis, 8.5; lectures in Salzburg, 9.1, 10.1; teaches seminar at Salzburg, 9.2; applies for university posts on return from Europe, 9.3; accepts “Visiting Writer” post in Oregon and Washington, 10.2; post and life at Princeton, 10.3, 10.4; resigns from Bard, 11.2; returns to teach at Minnesota, 12.1; teaches at Northwestern, 12.2, 12.3; appointment at University of Puerto Rico, 13.2, 14.1; post at University of Chicago as “Celebrity in Residence,” 14.2, 14.3, 14.4; delivers Hopwood Lecture at University of Michigan (1961), 14.5; tutors at Wagner College writing conference, 14.6

  Character and qualities: ambition and ruthlessness, itr.1; sense of uncertainty, 1.1; quickness to anger and forget, 3.1; single-mindedness, 4.1, nts.1; volatility, 4.2, 6.1, 10.1; self-confidence as writer, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 10.2; effect on women, 7.2, 9.1; manner at Minnesota, 8.1; outspokenness, 10.3; difficult temper, 11.1; perfectionism, nts.2

  Education: schooling, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1; Jewish studies, 3.4; attends Crane Junior College, 5.1; enrolls and studies at University of Chicago, 5.2, 5.3; transfers to Northwestern University, 5.4, 5.5; studies at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.1; life and studies at Northwestern, 5.10; returns to University of Chicago from Wisconsin, 5.11; attends later classes at University of Chicago, 6.2; learns Hebrew, nts.1

  Ideas and opinions: attitudes to biography, itr.1, itr.2; view of love, itr.3; and Jewish observance, 1.1, nts.1; defies cultural authority, 1.2; love of larger-than-life figures, 2.1; nature-loving, 2.2; on assimilation of immigrants, 3.1; anti-materialism, 3.2; attitude to business and businessmen, 4.1; discussions with Rabbi Kahn, 4.2; hostility to Orthodox Jewry, 4.3; interest in philosophy, 4.4; political involvement, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4; as Trotskyist, 5.5; leaves Socialist Workers Party, 6.1; attitude toward World War II, 6.2, 6.3; admires Rosenberg, 7.1, 7.2; on concern for children, 8.1; view of Paris, 9.1, 9.2; involvement with Europe-America Groups, 9.3; disbelieves in untrammeled instinct, 10.1; on European and U.S. literary traditions, 10.2; on suffering, 12.1, 12.2; opposes release of Pound, 12.3; on writers as university teachers, 13.1; interest in Steiner and anthroposophy, 14.1

  Literary life: fame and recognition, itr.1, itr.2, 14.1; fictional portrayal of real-life characters, itr.3, itr.4, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2; idealizes novel form, itr.5; descriptions of face and body, 2.2; language and style, 2.3, 11.1, 11.2, 13.1; portrays mothers in fiction, 2.4; awarded Nobel Prize, 3.3; Kafka’s influence on, 4.1; novelistic principles, 4.2; rejected by Whittaker Chambers for Time job, 4.3, 7.1; student writing, 5.1; pseudonyms, 5.2; co-translates Eliot’s “Prufrock” into Yiddish, 5.3; writing at Goshkins’ (Ravenswood), 6.1, 6.2; works at Illinois Writers’ Project, 6.3; stories rejected, 6.4, 6.5; acquires literary agent (Lieber), 6.6; relations with prospective audience, 6.7;

  Bellow, Saul:

  Literary life: works on Syntopicon (Encyclopaedia Britannica project), 7.1; applies for support from foundations, 7.2; attitude to Partisan Review circle, 7.3, 7.4; reviewing, 7.5, 10.1, 14.1; takes Volkening as agent, 8.1; awarded cash prize from National Institute of Arts and Letters, 10.2; workmanlike approach to writing, 10.3; growing literary and intellectual influence, 10.4; translates from Yiddish, 11.1, nts.1; payback to Trilling, 11.2; playwriting, 11.3, 13.1, nts.2; commitment to short stories and novellas, 12.1; spontaneous writing, 12.2; comedy writing, 12.3; grants literary awards and makes recommendations, 12.4; denies death of the novel, 12.5; cofounds and contributes to The Noble Savage magazine, 13.2; grant from Ford Foundation, 13.3, 13.4; literary and musical references, 13.5; lecture tour (1964), 13.6; lecture tour in Eastern Europe, 13.7, 13.8; Hillel House talk, 14.2; film reviewing, 14.3; condemns Ludwig’s Above Ground, 14.4

  Personal life: friendship with Peltz, itr.1, 5.1; family life and children, itr.2; serves on Committee on Social Thought, itr.3, 14.1, 14.2; juggles with names, itr.4; relations with father, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3; on mother’s family, 1.4; birth and childhood in Lachine, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2; gestures, 1.6; Russian heritage, 1.7; upbringing, 1.8; looking and seeing, 2.3; on family’s early difficulties in Canada, 2.4; life in Montreal as child, 2.5; owns country houses, 2.6; sexual initiation, 2.7; appendicitis and hospitalization, 2.8; early reading, 2.9, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1; and mother’s early death, 2.10, 5.2, 5.3; relations with mother, 2.11, 3.4; moves to Chicago, 3.5; life in Chicago as boy, 3.6, 3.7; after-school jobs, 3.8; Americanization, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11; acting in school plays, 3.12; appearance, 3.13, 6.1, 7.1, 11.1, 12.1; wears “tzitzes” as boy, 3.14; self-consciousness about family background, 3.15; musical abilities and interests, 3.16, 11.2, 13.1; youthful infatuation with Rosalyn Tureck, 3.17; attitude to brother Maury, 3.18, 3.19; Jewish identity, 3.20, 4.2, 7.2, 11.3, 13.2; helps in father’s coal business, 4.3; view of brother Sam, 4.4; invests with Sam, 4.5; attitude to sister Jane, 4.6; describes Charlie Kauffman, 4.7; sporting prowess, 4.8; influenced by Rosenfeld, 4.9; friendship with Tarcov, 4.10, 6.2; differences with Freifeld, 4.11; friendship with Harris, 4.12, 4.13, 5.4; moves to New York from Chicago, 4.14, 7.3; girlfriends and romances as adolescent, 4.15; proposes to Eleanor Fox, 4.16; on dying mother, 4.17; part-time employment as student, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7; pool-playing, 5.8; dress, 5.9, 8.1, 11.4; clash with father, 5.10; life in Madison, Wisconsin, 5.11; relations with Rosenfeld, 5.12, 5.13, 10.1, nts.1; in love with Anita, 5.14, 6.3; marriage to Anita, 6.4; marriage difficulties with Anita, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 11.5; pneumonia, 6.8, 12.2; social circle, 6.9; benefits from mother’s insurance policy, 6.10; affair in Mexico, 6.11; horse riding, 6.12, 12.3, 12.4; moderate drinking, 6.13, 10.6; naturalization as American citizen, 6.14, 6.15; potential wartime draft, 6.16, 6.17, 6.18; at son Greg’s birth, 6.19; suffers from hernia, 6.20, 7.4; pictured, 250, 338, 480, 588; enlists in Merchant Marine, 6.21, 7.5, 10.7; visits to New York, 7.6; Kazin describes, 7.7; life in New York, 7.8; and Greenwich Village bohemianism, 7.9; and Reichian therapy, 7.10, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, 12.5, 13.3; relations with son Greg, 7.11, 11.6, 11.7, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 13.4, 13.5; friendship with Lidov, 7.12; Lidov portrait of, 7.13; occupies house in Holmes, New York, 7.14; financial difficulties, 7.15; friendship with McClosky, 8.5; sensitivity to anti-Semitism, 8.6; home and family life, 8.7; infidelities and womanizing, 8.8, 12.9, 13.6, 13.7; loses weight in Europe, 8.9; shipboard affair (with Betty), 8.10, 8.11; social life and entertaining in Minnesota, 8.12; reapplies for and wins Guggenheim Fellowship, 8.13, 8.14; disagreements with Henle, 8.15; financial security, 8.16, nts.2; affair with Nadine Raoul-Duval,
9.4, 9.5; creative liberation watching Paris street cleaning, 9.6; seeks work and accommodation in New York, 9.7; suffers from grippe, 9.8; letters from Maury’s illegitimate son Dean Borok, 10.12; advises Dean Borok to write account of life, 10.13; anxiety over sexual inadequacy, 10.14; weak public speaking, 10.15; affair with Alice Adams, 10.1; affinity with Berryman and Schwartz, 10.2; improved relations with Anita, 10.3; breakup with Anita, 10.4; lives with Riggs, 10.5; early relations with Sasha (Sondra), 10.6; advises foundations and attends committees, 10.7; divorce proceedings, 11.1; suspicious of Sasha, 11.2; meets and courts Sasha, 11.3; view of Jack Ludwig, 11.4; makes difficulties over divorce from Anita, 11.5; and father’s death, 11.6; awarded second Guggenheim Fellowship (1951), 12.1; driving, 12.2; affair in Nevada, 12.3; marriage to Sasha, 12.4; divorce settlement with Anita, 12.5; fails to attend Rosenfeld’s funeral, 12.6; reaction to Sasha’s pregnancy, 12.7; buys house in New York State, 12.8, 12.9; inheritance from father, 12.10; relations with Ludwig, 12.11, 13.1, 13.2; borrows money from Sasha’s mother, 12.12, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5; enjoys good wines and food, 12.13; and birth of son Adam Abraham, 12.14; friendship with Berryman, 12.15, 12.16; life at Tivoli, 12.17; portrayed in Roth’s The Ghost Writer, 12.18; elected life member of National Institute of Arts and Letters, 12.19; marriage relations with Sasha, 12.20, 13.6; Sasha leaves, 13.7; near-collapse on learning of Larry Kauffman’s suicide, 13.8; undergoes therapy with Meehl, 13.9, 13.10; revives relations with Sasha, 13.11, 13.12; on Sasha’s nervous disorder, 13.13; Sasha asks for divorce, 13.14; affair with Bobby Markels, 13.15; affair with Susan Glassman, 13.16, 13.17, 14.1, 14.2; therapy with Albert Ellis, 13.18; divorce from Sasha finalized, 13.19, 14.3; social life at Tivoli, 13.20; access to son Adam, 13.21, 14.4; learns of affair between Sasha and Ludwig, 13.22; money problems, 14.5; meeting with Susan Glassman, 14.6; correspondence with Susan Glassman, 14.7, 14.8; marriage to Susan, 14.9; invited to White House in honor of Malraux, 14.10; fight with Sasha (1962), 14.11; sends family trash to Sasha, 14.12; fear of independent women, nts.1; eats pork, nts.2; gives up cigar smoking, nts.3; resigns from Century Association (Club), nts.4