Henderson the Rain King

"Bellow's classic novel of a dissatisfied American millionaire finding himself in Africa has been newly recorded in time for the novel's 50th anniversary. Joe Barrett reads the seriocomic tale of Eugene Henderson, who flees workaday American anomie for the freeing chaos of Africa. Barrett's voice is pleasingly gravelly, rimed with experience and rising to a growling screech at particularly heated moments. Every audio recording should be so lucky as to work with Bellow's prose, but this version, directed by Keith Reynolds, is more than adequate. Barrett is to be commended for sounding like a man of Bellow's era, not his own; one can almost picture Bellow's voice emitting a similar blend of assurance and self-conscious anxiety. A Viking hardcover. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Henderson the Rain King, is seriocomic novel by Saul Bellow, first published in 1959. The novel examines the midlife crisis of Eugene Henderson, an unhappy millionaire. The story concerns Henderson's search for meaning. A larger-than-life 55-year-old who has accumulated money, position, and a large family, he nonetheless feels unfulfilled. He makes a spiritual journey to Africa, where he draws emotional sustenance from experiences with African tribes. Deciding that his true destiny is as a healer, Henderson returns home, planning to enter medical school.?A kind of wildly delirious dream made real by the force of Bellow's rollicking prose and the offbeat inventiveness of his language.? ? Chicago Tribune?Bellow's aura of fable is constantly washed over by humor, impulsive creation, and actual, turbulent detail.? ? The Nation

First published in 1959, this seriocomic novel examines the midlife crisis ofEugene Henderson, an unhappy millionaire, and his search for meaning during aspiritual journey to Africa.