Preview of The Adventures of Augie March Summary:

The novel dramatizes the struggle of the individual with society, with "reality-instructors" and, ultimately, with himself. Augie March wants "a fate that is good enough"; he wants to touch all sides and not become a specialist. Yet how can the individual resist the enormous pressures of twentieth-century America, especially when it offers attractive temptations to conform? Augie encounters a series of powerful "reality-instructors," people who "are always trying to fit him into their schemes." These tempters include "Grandma" Lausch, William Einhorn, his friends, his lover, and his brother.

By their own lights, they mean well by Augie; all they ask is that he give up his individuality and freedom. Indeed, at times, Augie is forced to question the value of his precious self. Thea Fenchel, his lover, accuses him of being unable to communicate intimately with another: "Isn't there one person in the whole world to whom you...