Bellarosa Connection, The
by Saul Bellow
- Used
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine Trade Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0140126864
- ISBN 13
- 9780140126860
- Seller
-
Mulvane, Kansas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
(Possible Ex-Lib, No library distinctions, but does display Tape ID number heel of spine.) Very slight toning, else content appears as new, unread and unblemished with very good wraps displaying minimal surface/edge wear, as shown.
Hard on the heels of Theft (1989), another Bellow 100-pager in paperback original: this time the tale of one Harry Fonstein, saved from the Holocaust by the underground organization of Broadway impresario Billy Rose (Bellarosa, to the wartime Italians), then later cold-shouldered by the show-biz celeb himself. Having fled the Nazis from Poland to Italy, Fonstein finds himself mysteriously wafted from a Rome jail cell to end up, by a subtle and devious route, endowed with an American wife named Sorella (overweight, a teacher of French) and living successfully as a businessman in New Jersey. Naturally enough, Fonstein wants to meet Billy Rose and express his gratitude ("I owe him my life"), but his calls aren't answered, he's turned away at the office, and once—at Sardi's—he's forcibly prevented from approaching the man himself. Fonstein may or may not be resigned to such unnatural rebuffs, but his persistent wife Sorella certainly isn't. In 1959, she and Fonstein are vacationing in Jerusalem when the rich and famous Billy Rose is there also—dedicating a memorial garden. The obese but passionate Sorella has brought with her the wildly incriminating secret diaries of a disgruntled (and deceased) staff member of Rose's—with which she confronts him, threatening publication if he won't agree "to sit down with my husband for fifteen minutes." Result? No go. Billy Rose won't budge ("Remember, forget—what's the difference to me?"). A moment of laugh-aloud comedy ensues, yet nothing changes: Rose won't see Fonstein, people's lives go on. The narrator of the story—a shirttail relative of Fonstein's who has become rich by running a memory institute in Philadelphia—tries to get back in touch with Fonstein and Sorella 30 years later, casting doubt on his own thesis that "memory is life" and peering into an abyss that the high-rolling Billy Rose ("Tiny, greedy, smart") just may have seen long before him. Subtle, complex, and tricky, a wry-toned look deep into gloom: fine, vintage Bellow in the shorter form.
Shipping/Handling/Insurance/Tracking Included within the continental U.S. (Free Shipping). Extra Charges/Fees apply on Shipments Outside The U.S. and Expedited Shipments. Oversize and/or heavy books may require additional fees. Will advise. Written 2.21.2021AK #5250-72621 Img. 6487
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Details
- Bookseller
- Eve's Reads (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5250-72621
- Title
- Bellarosa Connection, The
- Author
- Saul Bellow
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine Trade Paperback
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Ed, 1st Prtg
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0140126864
- ISBN 13
- 9780140126860
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Place of Publication
- New York, NY
- Date Published
- 1989
- Pages
- 102
- Keywords
- Fiction
Terms of Sale
Eve's Reads
Shipping/Handling/Insurance/Tracking Included within the continental U.S. (Free Shipping). Extra Charges/Fees apply on ALL Shipments Outside The U.S. and Expedited Shipments. Oversize and/or heavy books require additional fees. Will advise and will send invoice via Paypal for extra charges.
About the Seller
Eve's Reads
About Eve's Reads
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- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Heel
- The lower most portion of the spine when the book is standing vertically.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...