6. Schwartz came to the (completely false and absurd) conclusion that Kramer was having an affair with his wife.
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7. Schwartz launched a campaign of harassment against Kramer, including a lawsuit.
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8. At one point Kramer is at Chelsea Hotel & Schwartz bangs on door. Kramer opens a little, see Schwartz has a gun.
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9. So, a hugely traumatic experience for Kramer. Then Saul Bellow figures a way to make it worse.
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10. Bellow's 1975 novel Humboldt's Gift is based very closely on life of his beloved late friend Delmore Schwartz.
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11. Bellow retells Schwartz/Kramer struggle in ways that make Kramer look bad. In novel he's critic named Magnasco.
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12. Magnasco/Kramer is opportunist "overweight, roundfaced, young in years only, steady, unflappable, born to make progress in cultural NY"
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13. In novel, Magnasco/Kramer is rescued from enraged poet by group of lesbians dressed as longshoremen.
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14. Last fanciful plot point was perhaps Bellow's dig at Kramer's well known homophobia.
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15. As you might imagine, Kramer was not happy by this harsh & negative portrayal (over events where he actually behaved honourably).
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16. In a later survey of Bellow's career, Kramer said Humboldt's Gift was novel where he & other readers lost faith in the novelist.
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17. Kramer didn't elucidate why he didn't like Humboldt's Gift, and stopped caring for Bellow after reading that book.
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18. Now, Saul Bellow and Joseph Epstein were friends in the early 1970s, played racketball together.
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