Saul Bellow. Ravelstein: A Novel

"Ravelstein" is Saul Bellow's latest novel, written in 2000 and based on the true story of his old friend, the renowned philosopher and publicist Alan Bloom, who has been repeatedly called - some with admiration, some with condemnation - "the Machiavelli of the 20th century."

Alan Bloom's students included the most conservative and decisive "hawks" of the American political elite; he was considered a kind of "gray cardinal" of the White House.

Bloom's influence on American politics over many decades is difficult to overstate. His eccentricity and extravagance were legendary.

But how did he appear to someone other than an outsider, not an indifferent biographer, but a friend and great connoisseur of human souls, Bellow?