Saul Bellows was a renowned American writer born in Canada to Russian Jewish immigrants. He authored 14 novels and several short story collections over his lifetime, winning numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature. Bellows' novels often drew from his own turbulent personal life, moving frequently between wives and cities in his youth. His most famous work, The Adventures of Augie March, follows a man drifting through various jobs and relationships in 1920s Chicago. Bellows helped establish a new style of realism in American literature and is now widely considered one of the great American authors of the 20th century.

1. Saul BellowsBy: Olivia Hunter and Jessica Jones

2. Saul Bellows was a great writer.He is said to be one of the top writers of all time. He wrote stories that are today looked at as some of the greatest stories ever written. His legacy lives on with the 14 novels and 4 short story collections, a novella, a memoir, a play, and an essay collection that he wrote in his lifetime.

3. Personal LifeSolomon Belo was born in Lachine, Quebec on June 10, 1915. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants.At the age of nine, Saul moved to Chicago with his family and began to relish in the big-city lifestyle. At the age of 19, he changed his name to Saul Bellows to make himself feel more American. He attended the University of Chicago and received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 1937.

4. Saul found his niche as a teacher at a downtown teacher’s college.

5. Later, Saul became a member of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thoughts.

6. With his extensive knowledge and literary competency, Saul found himself editing for the Encyclopedia Britannica, then later for his own journal, The Noble Savage.Man of Many WivesFive Wives: The more divorces he went through the younger the next wife got.Four Children:Three sons, and one daughter ( which wasn’t even born until Bellows was 84 years old)Used the turmoil in his life during his divorces to create such good stories. And a lot of his books were dedicated to his wives. Characters were based on them too.

7. The Works and AwardsAt the age of 29, Saul Bellow’s first book, Dangling Man was published. This depicted the tale of a young man waiting to be inducted into the army, with nothing but the “freedom” of waiting on his side.

8. Saul released his second book, The Victim in 1947. This book focused on the strive people have to be relieved of self-determination. In the book, a man whose wife has left to visit relatives is visited by a figure from the past who opens his eyes to past and present manifestations.

9. Herzog, a book about a down-and-outter Romanticism student who is victim of marital disorder and also believes women are terrible, yet can’t live without them and Mr. Sammler’s Planet, which focuses on an aging Jew living in New York’s Upper West Side who analyzes and judges, yet can’t understand the young or blacks, and The Adventures of Augie March, all went on to win the National Book Award for fiction.

10. Humboldt’s Gift, written in 1975, would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and lead to Bellows receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature on December 12, 1976.Complete List of WorksHis novels include: ​Dangling Man​ in1944, ​The Adventures of Augie March​ in 1953 which won the National Book Award, ​Seize the Day​ in 1956, ​Henderson the Rain King​ in 1959, ​Herzog​ in 1964 which won National Book Award, ​Mr. Sammler's Planet​ in 1970 which also won the National Book Award, ​Humboldt's Gift ​in 1975 which won the Pulitzer Prize, ​The Dean's December​ in 1982, Ravelstein​ in 2000. He also published four books of stories, ​Mosby's Memoirs​ in 1968, ​Him with His Foot in His Mouth​ in 1984, ​Something to Remember Me By​ in 1991, Collected Stories​ in 2001; He wrote a novella, ​The Actual​ in 1997; a memoir, ​To Jerusalem and Back​ in 1976; a play, ​The Last Analysis​ in 1964; and an essay collection, ​It All Adds Up​ in 1994.

11. The Adventures of Augie MarchThe story describes Augie March's growth from childhood to a fairly stable maturity. Augie, with his brother Simon and the mentally abnormal George have no father and are brought up by their mother who is losing her eyesight, and a tyrannical grandmother in very humble circumstances in the rough parts of Chicago. Augie drifts from one situation to another in a free-wheeling manner—jobs, women, homes, education and lifestyle.One of the main influences on young Augie is his Grandma Lausch, a tell-it-how-it-is kind of woman. Grandma Lausch was far from the kind of woman that society would accept during that time. She smoked and would use her grandchildren (mainly Augie) as a part in her fictional stories she tells.Augie depicts his younger brother, Georgie, to be an “idiot,” however, he is so gentle and nurturing when it comes to interactions with his mother or grandmother. This may be a slight side of the Romanticism in Saul Bellow showing its face throughout the story.The environment that Saul creates are almost inviting to trauma, and substantial to the understanding of respect to women and love for young Augie

12. Later in LifeBellow left his beloved Chicago in 1993 and went to Boston to teach at Boston University. He retired to Brookline, Massachusetts where he died at the age of 89 on April 5, 2005.Saul Bellows was truly a Great American Writer even if he was an immigrant. He prided himself on being American and his literature brought things to this country that no other author has ever been able to do.