Seize the Day

Seize the Day, first published in 1956, is Saul Bellow's fourth novel. It was adapted into the film of the same name. Synopsis The story centers on a day in the life of Wilhelm Adler (a.k.a. Tommy Wilhelm), a failed actor in his forties. He is poor, unemployed and separated from his wife (who refuses to agree to a divorce). He is also estranged from his children and his father, a highly regarded former doctor who lives in the same Broadway building. Wilhelm is immature and lacks insight, which has brought him to failure. In Seize the Day Wilhelm experiences a day of reckoning as he is forced to examine his life and to accept the "burden of self."