Rating: 
Summary: The Birth Day
Review: "Seize The Day" is about the day Tommy Wilhelm hit his financial and emotional bottom and emerges from a lifetime of confusion and failure to find his true self, his spiritual self. Bellow's novel of psycological introspection and intrege compelled this reader to examine his own life a little closer. Maybe you will be fascinated by doing the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Packs a Mighty Wallop
Review: How is it that a novel of such importance, by one of our country's premiere men of letters, has been reviewed by only one other Amazonian? Goodness, the state American Literature is in. We are a country losing our soul, much as Tommy Wilhelm in Bellow's "Seize the Day." This book should be appreciated by more readers, plain and simple.Imagine a man. A child of a man, really, who never quite grew up and never took the time to know himself. He took pills instead. He took the easy route. He painted his life into a corner, and the paint... ain't... drying. Tommy can you hear me? Tommy, it's time to smash the damn mirror and all those bottles of pills and all the bum advice you take from that quack who lives above you in that New York Hotel where you have breakfast with your successful dad every day, the same dad who practically begs you to grow up and go back to your wife and kids and fix what's wrong in your life instead of blaming others. Sound familiar? Sound like a parable for a nation gone fat with overindulgence and extended adolescence? And yet it's such a personal story. It's just one day in a man's life... a day-long trial for a man who can't make things right because he pushes when he needs to pull. We all maybe need to push a little less and pull a little more is all I'm saying. Bellow's work represents a life so eff'd up that there may be no solution. Again I ask, sound familiar?
Rating:
Summary: A Slender American Classic
Review: I first read this book years ago, when I was losing my shirt (and just about every other item of clothing I owned) as a commodity-futures trader. Someone had told me the book concerned a guy in the same situation. Readers certainly won't find much in "Seize the Day" about the workings of the commodity markets, but they will discover an incredibly well-explored character named Tommy Wilhelm, who gambles what's left of his money in a desperate effort to get out of hock. Wilhelm is an excruciating combination of victim and self-defeating loser. Bellow's relentless examination of a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown makes for riveting reading. And while Tommy Wilhelm could serve as a poster-boy warning to anyone thinking of speculating in risky investments, he definitely stands as a symbol of what can happen to people when they take themselves and the "American Dream" too seriously.
Rating:
Summary: for bellow, this is the place to start
Review: I generally agree with what the other reviewers say about this book, though I'm not sure they appreciate the level of sympathy, and even love, Bellow has for his flawed creation (and Bellow's warmth is one of many things I love about him). I would add that this book is the best introduction to Bellow's work. Like Herzog and The Adventures of Augie March it is unarguably a classic of twentieth century literature; unlike them it's short and relatively straightforward, and once you see what the man can accomplish in a mere 115 pages you'll definitely be primed for more.
Rating: 
Summary: If you want to be depressed and angry, read this book!
Review: I was forced to read this book in English 201 (Sophomore College Class) and HATED it! I had to write a paper too, I got an A but only because I told the TRUTH of this book! The main character who calls himself Tommy Wilhelm is immature, unthinking and incredibly selfish. He's addicted to pain-killer medication, never washes his hands and is balding, fat and separated from his wife. We find out at the beginning of the book that Tommy is living in an old-folks retirement home in New York City even though he is only in his 40's. Tommy just lost his job at a children's furniture factory. His wife and son live in New York but he won't live with them. Tommy is down to his last few hundred dollars and has foolishly invested them in the stock market on the advice of Dr. Tamkin, a lying, cheating, vulture-like oldster with unclean personal habits. In the course of the book, we find that Tommy's real name is actually Wilhelm Adler but he changed his name because he wanted to start a Hollywood career. Tommy makes all the wrong decisions before he finds the right one, and he follows many stupid whims and the advice of anyone who knows how to flatter him, he never stops to consider common sense. He also believes wild stories from Dr. Tamkin, who probably isn't a doctor at all judging from his actions. Tommy's juvenile tendencies are reinforced in many ways. First, his name: Tommy is a name for little boys, upon reaching maturity men are called Tom or Thomas, not the diminuative Tommy. Second: His father still calls him Wilky, a hated nickname from childhood. This is his father's way of letting Tommy know that he still acts like a child. Third: Tommy expects his father to pay his rent for him, even though he is 40-some years old! Fourth: The fact that he lives in the same building as his father even though he despises the old man, it's as if he can't break his ties from Daddy. There are many water symbols in this book, allusions to baptism and rebirth, symbols of what Tommy needs to do for himself. Also allusions to death and corpses, which are a symbol of what Tommy is falling in to. Throughout, we see Tommy slowly spiral downwards in pills, depression, doubt and stupidity until he hits rock-bottom. We learn about his life prior to this point and the affair he had with a Catholic girl in another town. My professor was a very good instructor, but he must have really had a synical side to him in order to enjoy this book so much! To let you know, my paper was actually a LOT better than this review but I hated this book so much that I just don't have the energy to actually use my talents on this book one more time! This is just my plea to you, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!! Not unless you are a hopeless manic/depressive with no hope to your life!
Rating:
Summary: Throw Him a Lifeline, He's Drowning!
Review: Poor Tommy Wihelm! This is a sad spectacle of a novella. Sad, in that you can't help but feel for this poor guy. Tommy Wilhelm has squandered his life. He chased his dreams to Hollywood.... and failed. He got into business... and failed. He got married and had to boys... and failed. He tried to become a commodities trader... and failed.
I can't help but think of Biff Loman, when I read this one. Tommy Wilhelm's life is a story of bad choices and missed opportunities. We all have experienced moments like this, but Wilhelm's whole life is based on this premise.
As the story comes to a conclusion. Tommy Wilhelm's life begins to crash down bit by bit until it looks totally hopeless. And really, it is totally hopeless.
Tommy's plunge into a torrent of tears is a fitting end to this sad, sad story.
Bellow's writing is lean and direct. This book is a great case- study of futile, life planning. It is well written and worth your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Muddled Visions
Review: This is a good book to read in one sitting after you've had a horrible day and you are seeking to feel good about yourself. The story is about a forty something year-old Tommy Wilhem who looses his job and refuses to take any responsibility for his misfortunes. He is a loser by our society standards. He moves into a hotel, expects his father the notorious Dr. Adler to pay his rent while he gambles his money, pays no attention to his physical appearance, and indulges on alcohol and pills. Neither son nor father can sympathize for each other. Tommy blames his father for not supporting him, and father is disappointed that his son didn't follow the notion of the "American Dream", by choosing a lucrative career path such as that of becoming a doctor, and instead chose an untraditional route that of becoming and actor. However, Dr. Adler is a stubborn man that believes that his son should own up to his mistakes and get a job, but at the same time he lies to his friends at the hotel about how well his son Tommy is doing business wise. There is a an intriguing element of illusion and reality in this work as Dr. Adler gives himself a false sense of relief my masking the truth that he himself as a father is not a failure, and neither is his son.
Rating:
Summary: story of modern despair and spiritual renewal
Review: This is a powerful page-turner which in my view should be read once through to fully experience its sweeping crescendo and then again at a more deliberate pace to appreciate the beatifully descriptive langauge and symbolism of the text. Bellow writes with a detached sympathy for his unfortunate hero, Tommy Wilhelm, who finds himself on the brink of financial ruin and spiritual collapse. I think this is an important story about alienation in our modern commercial society and renewal through acquaintance with the true bared self within us that we are taught to neglect and long to return to. In just over a hundred pages, Saul Bellow manages to bring the ominously swelling pressures of his tragic hero's surroundings and inner monologue to a swirling climax, compassionately cleansing Tommy in an emotional acceptance of himself in the turbulent end. All the while, Bellow meticulously develops a suffocating world in which with Tommy we can't help but feel the merciless chaos surrounding him and amidst it all sympathize with the poignant alienation of a reflective mind. Very interesting read and highly recommended as a primer to Bellow's oeuvre.
Rating:
Summary: an agony to read about a loser losing
Review: This is Bellow's paean to failure, the slow slide of a good-hearted though dumb and self-destructive man. He is heading to his doom, and is a sucker the whole way. Reading this is hard, much like the inexorable decline of people in a Balzac novel, but it is a peculiarly American brand of failure with the post-war culture and Hollywood dreams in tow. It is a masterpiece. Recommended, but keep the valium handy.
Rating:
Summary: an agony to read about a loser losing
Review: This is Bellow's paean to failure, the slow slide of a good-hearted though dumb and self-destructive man. He is heading to his doom, and is a sucker the whole way. Reading this is hard, much like the inexorable decline of people in a Balzac novel, but it is a peculiarly American brand of failure with the post-war culture and Hollywood dreams in tow. It is a masterpiece. Recommended, but keep the valium handy.
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