0
    • Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image Look inside

    Seize the Day

    Author Saul Bellow
    Introduction by Cynthia Ozick
    Look inside
    Paperback
    $16.00 US
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
    5.13"W x 7.68"H x 0.38"D  
    On sale May 27, 2003 | 144 Pages | 9780142437612
    Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    “What makes all of this so remarkable is not merely Bellow’s eye and ear for vital detail. Nor is it his talent for exposing the innards of character in a paragraph, a sentence, a phrase. It is Bellow’s vision, his uncanny ability to seize the moment and to see beyond it.” –Chicago Sun-Times

    A Penguin Classic

    Fading charmer Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, he still retains a boyish impetuousness that has brought him to the brink of chaos: He is separated from his wife and children, at odds with his vain, successful father, failed in his acting career (a Hollywood agent once cast him as the “type that loses the girl”), and in a financial mess. In the course of one climactic day he reviews his past mistakes and spiritual malaise, until a mysterious philosophizing con man grants him a glorious, illuminating moment of truth and understanding, and offers him one last hope….

    This Penguin Classics edition contains an introduction by Cynthia Ozick.

    For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
    Saul Bellow was born of Russian Jewish parents in Lachine, Quebec, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937. His novel The Adventures of Augie March won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. His further awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Humboldt's Gift (1975); the International Literary Prize for Herzog, for which he became the first American recipient; and the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by France to non-citizens. In 1976, Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. View titles by Saul Bellow
    Seize the DayIntroduction by Cynthia Ozick

    Seize the Day

    By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
    Recommended for Discussion by the Great Books Foundation

    “Though Bellow grew up in Chicago, his portrayals of New York are masterful. . . . I read Seize the Day when I was right out of high school, and it molded my picture of the city to which I would move a few years later.” —Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, in The New York Times

    About

    “What makes all of this so remarkable is not merely Bellow’s eye and ear for vital detail. Nor is it his talent for exposing the innards of character in a paragraph, a sentence, a phrase. It is Bellow’s vision, his uncanny ability to seize the moment and to see beyond it.” –Chicago Sun-Times

    A Penguin Classic

    Fading charmer Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, he still retains a boyish impetuousness that has brought him to the brink of chaos: He is separated from his wife and children, at odds with his vain, successful father, failed in his acting career (a Hollywood agent once cast him as the “type that loses the girl”), and in a financial mess. In the course of one climactic day he reviews his past mistakes and spiritual malaise, until a mysterious philosophizing con man grants him a glorious, illuminating moment of truth and understanding, and offers him one last hope….

    This Penguin Classics edition contains an introduction by Cynthia Ozick.

    For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    Author

    Saul Bellow was born of Russian Jewish parents in Lachine, Quebec, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937. His novel The Adventures of Augie March won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. His further awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Humboldt's Gift (1975); the International Literary Prize for Herzog, for which he became the first American recipient; and the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by France to non-citizens. In 1976, Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. View titles by Saul Bellow

    Table of Contents

    Seize the DayIntroduction by Cynthia Ozick

    Seize the Day

    Praise

    By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
    Recommended for Discussion by the Great Books Foundation

    “Though Bellow grew up in Chicago, his portrayals of New York are masterful. . . . I read Seize the Day when I was right out of high school, and it molded my picture of the city to which I would move a few years later.” —Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, in The New York Times

    Related Articles

    Mental Health Awareness Month Resources
    General

    Mental Health Awareness Month Resources

    May is Mental Health Awareness Month and educators are increasingly aware that integrating social-emotional learning into the curriculum is critical if we want students to succeed both in and out of the classroom. Download the thematic educator guides on Teaching About Anxiety and Mindfulness and Teaching About Student Wellness. Explore our specially curated collections on

    Read more

    Mental Health Awareness Month Resources

    General
    Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Book Covers: 9780593731703 MY DOCUMENTS (RH) 9780593804872 A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF (Knopf) 9780593298381 WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM (Penguin) 9781603095747 IT RHYMES WITH TAKEI (IDW)
    History Asian American Sociology Literature

    Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

    Each May, we honor the stories, histories, and cultures of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Below is a selection of acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators to share with your students this month and throughout the year. AANHPI Creators – Middle School titles AANHPI Creators – High School titles .

    Read more

    Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

    History Asian American Sociology Literature

    Penguin Random House Secondary Education

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)