Adventures Of Augie March

“The Adventures of Augie March is the great American Novel. Search no further.” –Martin Amis

As soon as it first appeared in 1953, this novel by the great Saul Bellow was hailed as an American classic. Augie, the exuberant narrator-hero is a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Great Deptression. A “born recruit,” Augie makes himself available for a series of occupations, then proudly rejects each one as unworthy. His own oddity is reflected in the companions he encounters—plungers, schemers, risk-takers, and “hole-and corner” operators like the would-be tycoon Einhorn or the would-be siren Thea, who travels with an eagle trained to hunt small creatures. This Penguin Classics edition, with an introduction by celebrated writer and critic Christopher Hitchens, makes a literary masterpiece available to a new generation of readers.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Adventures of Augie March is the Great American Novel. Search no further. (Martin Amis)

If there's a candidate for the Great American Novel, I think this is it. (Salman Rushdie)

If there's a candidate for the Great American Novel, I think this is it. (Salman Rushdie)

“[Bellows] body of work is more capacious of imagination and language than anyone elses…If theres a candidate for the Great American Novel, I think this is it.” -Salman Rushdie, The Sunday Times (London)

Viking commemorates the 50th anniversary of the novel that created a career and heralded the emergence of one of the greatest figures of twentieth-century literature Among the names in the papers in 1953--from Khrushchev to Charlie Chaplin, from Dwight Eisenhower to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth--was Saul Bellow's, whose The Adventures of Augie March attracted enormous attention for its fresh, bold, exhilarating voice and thrust Saul Bellow into the international literary limelight. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication, Viking is reissuing Bellow's landmark novel in a beautiful new hardcover edition, with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens. The Adventures of Augie March set the stage for Bellow's Nobel Prize Award in 1976 and established him as a crucial voice that demanded to be heard. Fifty years later, it remains the best loved of Bellow's works as new readers discover this vital, truly American masterpiece.

As soon as it first appeared in 1953, this gem by the great Saul Bellow was hailed as an American classic. Bold, expansive, and keenly humorous, The Adventures of Augie March blends street language with literary elegance to tell the story of a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Great Depression. A "born recruit," Augie makes himself available for hire by plungers, schemers, risk takers, and operators, compiling a record of choices that is—to say the least—eccentric.

 

As soon as it first appeared in 1953, this gem by the great Saul Bellow was hailed as an American classic. Bold, expansive, and keenly humorous, The Adventures of Augie March blends street language with literary elegance to tell the story of a poor Chicago boy growing up during the Great Depression. A born recruit, Augie makes himself available for hire by plungers, schemers, risk takers, and operators, compiling a record of choices that isto say the least eccentric.

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) is the only novelist to have received three National Book Awards. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976.

J. M. Coetzee is a two-time winner of the Booker Prize and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. His books include Waiting for the Barbarians and Slow Man.

Christopher Hitchens is a celebrated author and critic. His books include Love, Poverty, and War and Why Orwell Matters.