Humboldt’s Gift (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Saul Bellow
- First Published: 1975
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: 1970’s
- Setting: Chicago, New York City, Corpus Christi, Houston, Madrid, Paris
- Principal Characters: Charlie Citrine, Denise, Von Humboldt Fleisher, Waldemar Wald, Kathleen, George Swiebel, Pierre Thaxter, Renata Koffritz, Roger Koffritz, The Señora, Rinaldo Cantabile
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Authors or writers, New York City, Poetry or poets, Paris, Chicago, West, U.S., Kidnapping, Films, movies, or motion pictures, Eccentrics or eccentricities, Texas, Debtors or creditors, Madrid
- Locales: New York, NY, Paris, France, Chicago, IL, Madrid, Spain, Houston, TX, Corpus Christi, TX
The Story:
By the 1970’s, Charles Citrine, a respected author in his mid-fifties, had won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his book on Woodrow Wilson, twenty-eighth president of the United States, and one for his Broadway play, Von Trenck. Charlie’s former wife, Denise, demanded higher support payments. His twenty-nine-year-old girlfriend, Renata Koffritz, wanted to marry him. During a poker game, Charlie gave Rinaldo Cantabile a check for $450. At the insistence of his friend, George Swiebel, who had seen Cantabile cheat, Charlie stopped payment on the check. Insulted,...
[The entire page is 2154 words long]
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