Character Sketch

Matters of politics and liberal arts education aside, Allan Bloom is more interesting than the main character in Saul Bellow's roman à clef Ravelstein, though Abe Ravelstein is also interesting. The problem with Ravelstein is that for half the book Ravelstein is sick and dying.  A book about Bloom should be about Bloom living. Bellow provides ample "rumors" that a "Bloom mystique" exists, but he doesn't succeed in representing or re-creating that mystique.  Now, that said, the question seems to be, "Did Bloom actually possess a mystique?"  Consider the following in terms of a character sketch...