In the following essay, Dutton surveys a range of critical interpretations of The Adventures of Augie March, arguing that Augie's failures throughout the novel act “as a depiction both of a human condition and of contemporary literature and the artist.”

In the following essay, Fuchs examines Bellow's early revisions of The Adventures of Augie March, observing that a study of the manuscripts “gives us the clearest perception of Bellow's intention in this novel of mixed intentions.”

In the following essay, Amis labels The Adventures of Augie March as the “Great American Novel” and presents an overview of the characteristics that render the novel as a distinctly American work.

In the following essay, Shaw asserts that Bellow became the first American author to consciously choose the picaresque genre as a frame for his narrative with The Adventures of Augie March, asserting that Bellow also tailored the genre to address the milieu of postwar America.

In the following essay, Charyn states that the lasting legacy of The Adventures of Augie March is the novel's profound influence on generations of Jewish American writers and readers.

In the following essay, Gerson traces the transformation of Augie March in The Adventures of Augie March from an early American Adamic figure as defined by R. W. B. Lewis to a modern American Adam whose personality and outlook has been influenced by twentieth-century events.

In the following essay, Hitchens explores the enduring appeal of The Adventures of Augie March and deems the novel Bellow's “gold standard” of literature.

In the following essay, Kriegel offers a critical appreciation of The Adventures of Augie March, praising the character of Augie as well as Bellow's use of language throughout the novel.

In the following essay, Frohock challenges the traditional idea of The Adventures of Augie March as a picaresque novel, perceiving Augie March to be more of a penitent than a picaro lead character.

In the following essay, Meyers explicates the symbolic role that Pieter Brueghel's painting The Misanthrope plays in The Adventures of Augie March.

In the following excerpt, Bradbury perceives The Adventures of Augie March to be a turning point in Bellow's literary development, noting that the novel abandons the European angst of his earlier works.

Despite its initial success, [The Adventures of Augie March] has not worn well…. [Difficult] questions continue to disrupt considerations of the novel. Bellow's strategy … is a reckless one, to fling an individual out across the surface of a very large work. Any such book depends for its success on the resiliency of that individual, on his ability to become, like a new coat, comfortable with time. There is also a problem of focus, for Bellow parades American types and deformities past t...

In the following review, Warren traces Bellow's development as a writer and maintains that The Adventures of Augie March is a “rich, various, fascinating, and important book, and from now on any discussion of fiction in America in our time will have to take account of it.”

[The Adventures of Augie March] is dominated by a recurrent allusiveness to masters of Greek, Jewish, European, and American history, literature, and philosophy. Sometimes their deeds or opinions are mentioned, sometimes they rule the imagery. We might call them Overlords, or Sponsors. ("If you want," Augie says at one point, "to pick your own ideal creature in the mirror coastal air and sharp leaves of ancient perfections and be at home where a great mankind was at home, I've ne...

In the following review, Rolo argues that The Adventures of Augie March presents the “archetypal” story of “the American as a rolling stone” but notes that the novel's protagonist lacks emotional depth.

In the following review, Cassidy characterizes The Adventures of Augie March as a series of narrative vignettes and contends that “there is no real power here and no tremendous insight that Bellow certainly was striving to achieve.”