Seize the Day Resources

Websites

Saul Bellow's Biography in Encyclopedia Britannica Online

Short, sweet, and to the point—much like Seize the Day!

Movie or TV Productions

Seize the Day (1986)

Robin Williams stars as Wilhelm and Jerry Stiller plays Dr. Tamkin in this made-for-TV adaptation of the novel.

Articles and Interviews

A New York Times Review of Seize the Day (1956)

In this short review, Alfred Kazin states memorably that the novel is about "the transparency of human weakness."

The New York Times Obituary for Saul Bellow (April 1995)

To quote one of the funeral-goers who watches Wilhelm sob his heart out in Seize the Day: "Oh my, oh my! To be mourned like that." (7.104)

An Obituary for Saul Bellow in The Guardian (April 1995)

In which James Wood writes that Seize the Day "is perhaps the most Russian novella ever written in America."

An Interview with Saul Bellow in The Paris Review (1966)

Realism, anti-intellectualism, and human nature: Saul Bellow has thoughtful things to say about them all!

An Interview with Saul Bellow in AGNI (1997)

In conversation with Sven Birkerts, Saul Bellow discusses the writing life, American fiction, and mass media in America today.

An Interview with Janis Bellow, Saul Bellow's Widow (2010)

Five years after Saul Bellow's death, Janis Bellow chats about life with the Nobel Laureate.

Video

5-Minute Documentary on Saul Bellow's Chicago Childhood

Saul Bellow describes his life as a young immigrant boy in Chicago in the 1920s.

Saul Bellow Reads at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland (1986)

After reading from Henderson the Rain King, Saul Bellow fields questions from the crowd.

Audio

A Brief Obituary for Saul Bellow on NPR (April 2005)

Featuring a brief history of his writing life, and some choice quotes from the man himself.

Saul Bellow's Nobel Lecture

An excerpt of the lecture Saul Bellow delivered after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976.

Images

Saul Bellow as a Young Man

The man knew how to rock the plaid.

Saul Bellow in His Later Years

Less plaid, more laugh lines.

The Viking Edition of Seize the Day

The first edition of the book.

The Masterworks Series Edition of Seize the Day

For those who like to judge the plots of books by their covers.

The Penguin Classics Edition of Seize the Day

For those who like their symbolism more abstract.

Movie Poster for the Film Adaptation of Seize the Day

Robin Williams: lookin' sharp, and keepin' it cool.

Robin Williams as Tommy Wilhelm

Help us out here, Shmoopers: are those mushrooms on his tie, or shrimp?