''The Dean's December'' is heavily thematic - and talky. But the themes are fully grounded in the book's matrix of idea and event and language. And the talk is excellent. Despite my distrust of didacticism and my yearnings for a stronger line of action, I found the novel continuously interesting in its play of ideas (even when cranky) and moving in its fervor. And Bellow's style - the play of language, the ''spin'' that he puts upon words - has never been more arresting. -- New York Times
Albert Corde is a professor of journalism and dean of students at a Chicago university. He and his wife, Minna, travel to Bucharest, Romania, where Minna's mother has suffered a stroke and is lying semiconscious in the local state hospital. As Corde tries to adapt to life in his mother-in-law's small apartment and cope with her relations and friends, news filters through to him of problems he left behind in Chicago: one of his students has been murdered, and a series of articles he is writing offends powerful and influential Chicagoans he had thought of as friends. Gradually it becomes clear that Corde's trip abroad is more than a brief interlude in a calm and orderly life, and that nothing will ever be the same again. Witty and erudite, The Dean's December will be a delight to fans of Saul Bellow.
Albert Corde is a professor of journalism and dean of students at a Chicago university. He and his wife, Minna, travel to Bucharest, Romania, where Minna's mother has suffered a stroke and is lying semiconscious in the local state hospital. As Corde tries to adapt to life in his mother-in-law's small apartment and cope with her relations and friends, news filters through to him of problems he left behind in Chicago: one of his students has been murdered, and a series of articles he is writing offends powerful and influential Chicagoans he had thought of as friends. Gradually it becomes clear that Corde's trip abroad is more than a brief interlude in a calm and orderly life, and that nothing will ever be the same again. Witty and erudite, The Dean's December will be a delight to fans of Saul Bellow.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169692297 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
Publication date: | 05/05/2015 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
![](/static/img/products/pdp/default_vid_image.gif)