A classic novel by Saul Bellow. The book, which the author himself elegantly and simply called “a funny story about death.” A brilliant “black comedy” about the complex relationships that connected a great self-destructive poet, a successful writer and a cynical, smart mafioso. In this novel, a fascinating plot coexists with brilliant reflections on the meaning and essence of art, tragedy with witty satire, and classical style with elements of postmodernism .