Herzog - (a novel)

Herzog is a 1964 novel by Saul Bellow, composed in part of letters from the protagonist Moses E. Herzog. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and the Prix International. In 2005, Time magazine named it one of the 100 best novels in the English language since Time's founding in 1923.

The novel follows five days in the life of Moses E. Herzog who, at the age of forty-seven, is having a midlife crisis following his second divorce. He has two estranged children, one by each wife, and is in a relationship with a vibrant woman, Ramona, but finds himself running away from commitment.

Herzog spends much of his time mentally writing letters he never sends. These letters are aimed at friends, family members, and famous figures, including recipients who are dead or who Herzog never knew. The one common thread is that Herzog is always expressing disappointment, either his own in the failings of others or their words, or apologizing for the way he has disappointed others.

Herzog's second wife Madeleine has recently left him for Valentine Gersbach, who Herzog considered a close friend. While still married, Madeleine convinced Herzog to move her and their daughter Junie to Chicago, and to arrange for Gersbach and his wife, Phoebe, to move as well. The plans were a ruse, and shortly after arriving in Chicago, Madeleine throws Herzog out and attempts to have him committed to an asylum.