Writer Warns, Misses All the Fun and Fact of the Story.” Here, Bellow warns readers against looking too deeply for symbols in literature. This has led to much discussion among critics as to why Bellow warned his readers against searching for symbolism just before the symbol-packed Rain King hit the shelves. The ongoing philosophical discussions and ramblings between Henderson and the natives, and inside Henderson's own head, prefigure elements of Bellow's next novel Herzog (1964), which includes many such inquiries into life and meaning. As in all Bellow's novels, death figures prominently in Henderson the Rain King. Also, the novel manifests a few common character types that run through Bellow's literary works. One type is the Bellovian Hero, often described as a schlemiel. Eugene Henderson, in company with most of Bellow's main characters, can be given this description, in the opinion of some people. Another is what Bellow calls the "Reality-Instructor"; in Henderson the Rain King, King Dahfu fills this role. In Seize the Day, the instructor is played by Dr. Tamkin, while in Humboldt's Gift, Humboldt von Fleisher takes the part. Scholars such as Bellow biographer James Atlas and others have shown that quite a few passages and ideas were lifted from a book titled The Cattle Complex in East Africa (1926) written by Bellow's anthropology professor Melville Herskovits who supervised his senior thesis at Northwestern University in 1937. Pulitzer Prize In 1960, the Pulitzer Prize committee for fiction recommended Henderson the Rain King be awarded the prize for that year. The Pulitzer board, which have final say over the awarding of the prize, overrode their recommendation and chose Advise and Consent by Allen Drury. Other media Leon Kirchner adapted Henderson the Rain King into the libretto for his opera Lily, which premiered at the New York City Opera in the spring of 1977. It was not a success, and was Kirchner's only foray into opera. "Rain King" is a song by Terence Boylan from his 1977 album Terence Boylan. It is clearly based on Bellow's novel. "Rain King" is a song by Counting Crows from their 1993 album August and Everything After. Henderson the Rain King and its characters were an inspiration in the song's writing. One passage in the novel inspired Joni Mitchell to write the song "Both Sides, Now" in 1967. Henderson the Rain King was mentioned as the favorite book of the character Ally McBeal