Herzog is a 1964 novel by Saul Bellow, composed in part of letters from the protagonist Moses E. Herzog. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and the Prix International. In 2005, Time magazine named it one of the 100 best novels in the English language since Times founding in 1923. Plot summary The novel follows five days in the life of Moses E. Herzog who, at the age of forty-seven, is having a midlife crisis following his second divorce. He has two estranged children, one by each wife, and is in a relationship with a vibrant woman, Ramona, but finds himself running away from commitment. Herzog spends much of his time mentally writing letters he never sends. These letters are aimed at friends, family members, and famous figures, including recipients who are dead or who Herzog never knew. The one common thread is that Herzog is always expressing disappointment, either his own in the failings of others or their words, or apologizing for the way he has disappointed others. Herzog's second wife Madeleine has recently left him for Valentine Gersbach, who Herzog considered a close friend. While still married, Madeleine convinced Herzog to move her and their daughter Junie to Chicago, and to arrange for Gersbach and his wife, Phoebe, to move as well. The plans were a ruse, and shortly after arriving in Chicago, Madeleine throws Herzog out and attempts to have him committed to an asylum. The novel opens with Herzog in his house in Ludeyville, a (fictional) town in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. He is contemplating returning to New York to see Ramona, but instead flees to Martha's Vineyard to visit some friends. He arrives at their house, but writes an actual note saying that he has to leave. Herzog then heads to New York and, after spending a night with Ramona, he heads to the courthouse to discuss with his lawyer the possibility of regaining custody of his daughter, Junie. He subsequently witnesses a series of court hearings, including one where a woman is charged with beating her three-year-old to death by flinging him against a wall. Moses, already distraught after receiving a letter from Junie's babysitter about an incident in which Valentine locked Junie in the car while he and Madeleine argued inside the house, heads to Chicago. He goes to his stepmother's house and picks up an antique pistol with