Dangling Man

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written, both unsettling and enjoyable - By: Trevor Coote, 18 Jun 2008
Sometimes the author of a dazzling first novel is never again to scale such heights. There are others for whom their premier work was either a run-in for better things or whose writing continued to mature over the years. When Dangling Man was published it must have been clear that here was a great writer already, & one who went on to even finer achievements (The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, Humboldt's Gift, etc.). It is an extraordinarily accomplished work & Saul Bellow was indeed to become one of North America's greatest writers.
A young man has quit his job in anticipation of being drafted quickly into the War but bureaucratic inertia or incompetence leaves him waiting for his papers alone in a room in Chicago in mid-winter where, financiallly supported by his wife, he writes his journals. His idleness forces him to reflect on life and, as he slides into highly critical self-analysis, he becomes increasingly frustrated & irascible with his friends & family. Eventuallly, the prospect of going to War begins to appeal to him, whereas before it had appallled him. The ambience is mid-century European existentialist (Camus, Buzatti) as he grapples with problems of loneliness, alienation & anxiety, but it is very much set in an American milieu & there is a real evocation of wartime Chicago. This book is beautifully written & manages to be both unsettling & enjoyable. In fact, it is hard to imagine finer writing.

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