HERZOG

HERZOG is Saul Bellow’s most famous, and perhaps best, novel—and one that translates wonderfully to audio. Moses Herzog suffers from an epic midlife crisis. The book focuses on the numerous letters written by Herzog to seemingly every person in his life, and many people he has never known, letters and rantings that for the most part are never sent. But the book is much more—it’s a complex “quasi-autobiography” requiring great concentration to absorb. At first, narrator Malcolm Hillgartner’s voice seems a bit smooth for the character of Herzog, yet his presentation is highly effective. His polished tone complements the manic Herzog’s life and never distracts the listener from the focus —the inner life of an intellectual who is trying to come to grips with his own foibles. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2010]