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His Barbed Behind: Mr. Sammler’s Planet and Its Critics

JL;DR SUMMARY Saul Bellow's 1970 novel, "Mr. Sammler's Planet," is examined by Bellow's son, a publisher rather than a critic, who brings personal insights into the context and controversies surrounding the book. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustNew York CityCriticismSaul BellowModernismCultureLiteratureConservatism1960sMr. Sammler's Planet

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"As much as anything, Sammler is a book about New York, and what he sees through his bushy single eye is filth, corruption, and decay, both physical and moral."
Poland
"Artur Sammler is an elderly Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor whose nephew, a wealthy physician, has rescued him and his daughter from a DP camp and generously pays for their upkeep."
San Francisco, California, United States
"The scene takes up less than a page: Hey!...A man in Levis, thick-bearded but possibly young, a figure of compact distortion, was standing shouting at him.Hey! Old Man!"
London, England, United Kingdom
"A highly cultured intellectual and journalist, Sammler spent the interwar years in London, where he became acquainted with the bohemian Bloomsbury set."

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Retrieved 2025-04-03 05:32:06 UTC
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