Bellow`s first published novel portrays the thoughts and discomforts of Joseph, a young man in Chicago who quits his job in expectation of being drafted into the army during World War II. A series of bureaucratic snafus holds up his induction, however, and he finds himself with nothing to do for nearly a year. DANGLING MAN is the journal of his fresh, empty days, full of insights into nearly every aspect of his world.