Q&A …

… Carnival and Chaos: An Interview with Herbert Gold. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

After Bellow’s death, there was a program at the Jewish community center in San Francisco. The speakers included me and Gregory Bellow, his son. He looked out over the audience, and began his presentation. “My father … the Nobel Prize winning novelist … was a narcist.” Calling Saul a narcissist—or rather a “narcist,” no one corrected Gregory’s pronunciation—was really out of line. He was somewhat self-centered, like a writer devoted to himself, but he did many kind things for many other people—unasked-for favors. He was a complicated person.