Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winner
Humboldt's Gift
by Saul Bellow
Summary
A successful but disillusioned writer reflects on his relationship with his late mentor, a self-destructive poet, while navigating the distractions of fame and the "chicago" underworld.
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Historical Context & Significance
The win helped propel Bellow to the Nobel Prize in Literature later that same year; the character of Humboldt was based on Bellow's real-life friend, the poet Delmore Schwartz.