Literary Status

Abstract

There seems little reason to doubt that Bellow will remain a significant figure in the landscape of twentieth-century American literature: the range and seriousness of the body of work he has produced will ensure that. The accumulation of scholarly analysis of his writing is immense, and there is even a journal dedicated solely to his work, but it would be a pity if he were to be nothing more than grist for the academic mill. He does, however, seem to have evaded the fate of many serious novelists who have been unable to generate a popular following, for his novels usually reach the top ten of the best-seller lists. While it is easy to predict his continuing prominence within the American literary tradition, it is less easy to say precisely where he stands in it.