The Adventures of Augie March is a triumph of characters. Dozens of memorable figures people this sprawling tale. Augie himself is, of course, the lead. Larky, curious, experimental, free, he is the ideal protagonist for such a long picaresque novel. He touches all sides. Because he is open to all kinds of experience, he communicates a picture of modern America as wide and diverse almost as life itself.

But he is also interesting in his own right. Despite his apparent passivity, Augie holds hard to certain deep beliefs. He is on the side of life and people; he will never give up.

Augie's beliefs come under constant attack. He encounters a series of "reality-instructors," people who want to make him share their fate. These are wonderful characters in their own right-attractive, domineering, vital-but they also function as a threat against Augie's freedom and self-development.

Grandma Lausch, the dominant...