Editing Saul Bellow (section)

===Education and early career===
Bellow attended the [[University of Chicago]] but later transferred to [[Northwestern University]]. He originally wanted to study literature, but he felt the English department was anti-Jewish. Instead, he graduated with honors in [[anthropology]] and sociology.<ref>''The New York Times'' obituary, April 6, 2005. "He had hoped to study literature but was put off by what he saw as the tweedy anti-Semitism of the English department, and graduated in 1937 with honors in anthropology and sociology, subjects that were later to instill his novels."</ref> It has been suggested Bellow's study of anthropology had an influence on his literary style, and anthropological references pepper his works. He later did graduate work at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]].

Paraphrasing Bellow's description of his close friend [[Allan Bloom]] (see ''[[Ravelstein]]''), [[John Podhoretz]] has said that both Bellow and Bloom "inhaled books and ideas the way the rest of us breathe air."<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article379354.ece |title=Saul Bellow, a neocon's tale |newspaper=[[The Times]]|access-date=August 26, 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In the 1930s, Bellow was part of the Chicago branch of the [[Federal Writers' Project]], which included such future Chicago literary luminaries as [[Richard Wright (author)|Richard Wright]] and [[Nelson Algren]]. Many of the writers were radical: if they were not members of the [[Communist Party USA]], they were sympathetic to the cause. Bellow was a [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]], but because of the greater numbers of [[Stalinism|Stalinist]]-leaning writers, he had to suffer their taunts.<ref>Drew, Bettina. ''Nelson Algren, A Life on the Wild Side.'' Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991</ref>

In 1941, Bellow became a [[naturalized]] United States citizen, after discovering, on attempting to enlist in the armed forces, that he had immigrated to the United States illegally as a child.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Slater
| first = Elinor
|author2=Robert Slater
 | title = Great Jewish Men
| publisher = Jonathan David Company
| year = 1996
| page = 42
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T91sokr_nJYC&q=great+jewish+men
| chapter = SAUL BELLOW: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T91sokr_nJYC&q=bellow+naturalized+citizen&pg=PA42
| isbn = 0-8246-0381-8
| access-date = October 21, 2007
}}</ref><ref name=SlateHitchens>{{cite magazine|last1=Hitchens|first1=Christopher|title=Remembering Saul Bellow|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2005/04/he_was_an_american_quebecborn.html|magazine=Slate|access-date=June 13, 2015}}</ref>
In 1943, [[Maxim Lieber]] was his literary agent.

During [[World War II]], Bellow joined the [[United States Merchant Marine|merchant marine]] and during his service he completed his first novel, ''[[Dangling Man]]'' (1944) about a young Chicago man waiting to be drafted for the war.

From 1946 through 1948 Bellow taught at the [[University of Minnesota]]. In the fall of 1947, following a tour to promote his novel ''[[The Victim (novel)|The Victim]]'', he moved into a large old house at 58 Orlin Avenue SE in the [[Prospect Park, Minneapolis|Prospect Park]] neighborhood of [[Minneapolis]].<ref name="Leader 2015 p.">{{cite book|title=The Life of Saul Bellow: to fame and fortune, 1915–1964|last=Leader|first=Zachary|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=2015|isbn=978-0-307-26883-9|location=New York|page=64|oclc=880756047}}</ref>

In 1948, Bellow was awarded a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] that allowed him to move to Paris, where he began writing ''[[The Adventures of Augie March]]'' (1953). Critics have remarked on the resemblance between Bellow's [[picaresque novel]] and the great 17th-century Spanish classic ''[[Don Quixote]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pinsker|first=Sanford|date=April 1973|title=Saul Bellow in the Classroom|journal=College English|volume=34|issue=7|pages=980|jstor=375232|doi=10.2307/375232}}</ref> The book starts with one of American literature's most famous opening paragraphs,<ref name="npr">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2005/04/08/4583405/saul-bellow-an-appreciation|title=Saul Bellow, An Appreciation : NPR|website=NPR|date=April 8, 2005|publisher=npr.org|access-date=August 26, 2015|last1=Cheuse|first1=Alan}}</ref> and it follows its titular character through a series of careers and encounters, as he lives by his wits and his resolve. Written in a colloquial yet philosophical style, ''The Adventures of Augie March'' established Bellow's reputation as a major author.

In 1953, Bellow translated [[Gimpel the Fool]] by [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]] from Yiddish into English.

In 1958, Bellow once again taught at the University of Minnesota. During this time, he and his wife Sasha received psychoanalysis from University of Minnesota Psychology Professor [[Paul Meehl]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Menand |first=Louis |date=May 11, 2015 |title=Young Saul |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/young-saul |magazine= The New Yorker |location= New York, NY|access-date= October 18, 2016}}</ref>

In the spring term of 1961 he taught creative writing at the [[University of Puerto Rico]] at [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico|Río Piedras]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bellow |first=Saul | year= 2010|title=Saul Bellow: Letters |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sr98LzRQvUUC&q=Saul+Bellow%3A+Letters+Puerto+Rico+1961&pg=PT216
|others=redactor Ben Taylor |location= New York |publisher=Viking |isbn=9781101445327 |access-date=July 12, 2014 | quote = ... Puerto Rico, where he was spending the spring term of 1961.}}</ref>
One of his students was [[William Kennedy (author)|William Kennedy]], who was encouraged by Bellow to write fiction.