The Actual (1997) Signed First Edition Reference

The Actual (1997) is a slim novella about Harry Trellman, a retired businessman who has never gotten over his youthful love for Amy Wustrin, now a twice-widowed woman. Brought together by a wealthy mutual acquaintance, the two elderly lovers confront the question of whether it is too late to act on feelings they have carried for decades. Published by Viking, the novella is Bellow’s most compressed late work — a brief, tender, and surprisingly hopeful love story from a writer whose reputation rested on the grand intellectual novel.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Viking Press, New York Publication date: 1997 Format: Hardcover, 104 pages First printing indicator: Viking first-printing statement on copyright page

Signed Copy Values

• Flat-signed: $150–$400
• Inscribed: $300–$700

Lower-tier pricing. The novella’s brevity and its modest critical profile limit collector demand. However, signed copies are less common than for some of the larger, more commercially promoted novels, because Bellow’s health was declining by the late 1990s and his signing volume had decreased.

Market Notes

Affordable late-career acquisition. The novella’s emotional directness — unusual for Bellow — gives it a charm that its slim format might not suggest. Good value for collectors building comprehensive Bellow collections.