This book discusses works by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Saul Bellow in terms of the conflicts between rhetorical people (actors replete with ever-changing roles, situations, and strategies, and therefore devoid of single roles) and serious people (actors who possess master situations or a referent reality to which they believe everyone can refer), players and doers, artifices and realities, words and the world, and multivocal and univocal interpretations. This book claims that Fitzgerald¿s and Bellow¿s treatment of the concepts of actors and acting in their novels provides insights into the dynamic potential of the trope as presented by recent critics and reveals how some literary theories need refinement and modification. This book discusses works by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Saul Bellow in terms of the conflicts between rhetorical people (actors replete with ever-changing roles, situations, and strategies, and therefore devoid of single roles) and serious people (actors who possess master situations or a referent reality to which they believe everyone can refer), players and doers, artifices and realities, words and the world, and multivocal and univocal interpretations. This book claims that Fitzgerald¿s and Bellow¿s treatment of the concepts of actors and acting in their novels provides insights into the dynamic potential of the trope as presented by recent critics and reveals how some literary theories need refinement and modification. List of Abbreviations ix Chapter One Introduction 1(18) Rhetoric, Reception Theory and Acting 1(4) F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saul Bellow and Scenario-Writing 5(2) The Aims and the Structure of the Book 7(12) Chapter Two Gatsby's Acting: "a gift for hope" 19(24) Rhetorical and Serious Men 19(1) Gatsby as a Rigidly Obsessed Version of "Homo Rhetoricus" 20(10) The Buchanans as Examples of Rhetorical "Homo Seriosus" 30(7) Nick's Interpretation as Performance 37(6) Chapter Three Acting as Entertainment 43(30) Dick's Theory of Acting 43(3) Dick's Comedy 46(8) The Warrens' Comedy 54(10) The Great Stage Play of Providence 64(9) Chapter Four Leventhal's Acting and the Exactly Human 73(29) Acting as Representation of Human Behavior 73(7) Asa: A Less-than-Human Actor 80(8) Possessed or Exorcist? 88(5) The Exactly Human and Good Acting 93(9) Chapter Five Possession and Exorcism in Henderson the Rain King 102(33) Possession as Parallel to Acting 102(10) Henderson's Search for an Exorcist 112(7) The Ritual of Exorcism 119(8) Narration as a Scenario of Exorcism 127(8) Chapter Six Cinema People 135(36) The Last Tycoon: The Exercise of Power and Acting 136(7) Hollywood as a Degenerate Reality 143(9) The Bellarosa Connection: Acting as Teaching 152(2) Sorella as a Traditional Playwright-Teacher 154(6) Sorella as an Analytic Playwright-Teacher 160(4) From Alienated to Affective Acting 164(7) Chapter Seven Conclusion 171(10) F. Scott Fitzgerald and Acting 172(3) Saul Bellow and Acting 175(6) Selected Bibliography 181