The provided text comprises extensive excerpts from the collected letters of author Saul Bellow, offering a detailed look into his professional and personal life across several decades. The letters document Bellow’s struggles with the writing process, the creation and reception of his major works like The Adventures of Augie March and Herzog, and his views on literary criticism and the American and European intellectual scenes. They also reveal intimate details of his personal life, including multiple marriages, fatherhood, financial difficulties, health concerns, and enduring friendships and rivalries with other literary figures such as Ralph Ellison and Philip Roth. These writings serve as a raw, chronological narrative of an artist navigating his ambition, fame, and the demands of modern existence.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.