Saul Bellow, More Die of Heartbreak

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More Die of Heartbreak

(1987) recaptures much of the old Bellow energy and comedy, but falls short of the intellectual scope of

Herzog

or

Humboldt's Gift

. It illuminates in great detail the tragicomic manner in which modern heterosexual relationships have failed. It is a Prufrockian lament about failed men and absent mermaids which is full of misogynous love-lore, comic characters, botched loves, fatal forays into the danger zones of sex and romance, farcical retreats, and serio-crackpot sexual philosophizing. It is the misogynous self-ironic report of two men exchanging stories of battle wounds received from women they believe to have failed their masculine romantic expectations. The center of consciousness in the novel, Kenneth Trachtenberg, is a self-appointed guardian for his…

512 words

Citation: Cronin, Gloria. "More Die of Heartbreak". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 October 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13831, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13831 More Die of Heartbreak 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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