SOURCE: Amidon, Stephen. “Seize the Day.” New Statesman (10 December 2001): 49-50.

In the following review, Amidon identifies the unifying themes of the works in Collected Stories as the role of memory and the process of Jewish assimilation into American society.

There seems to be a bit of mischief going on in the title of Saul Bellow's new book [Collected Stories]. It is not, you will notice, The Collected Stories—there are a number of novellas and short stories missing from this otherwise generous book, ranging from such classics as Seize the Day to the less well-known “A Father-to-Be” and “The Gonzaga Manuscripts”. Why, then, “collected”? Why not “selected”? Could it be that the author is giving us a sly thematic nudge here, using a literary commonplace to indicate a unifying concern?

My guess is yes. Collection here means recollection. For Bellow's vibrant and unforgettable characters are in fact collectors...