Most of us have one big advantage over rich people and fictional characters when it comes to dealing with our personal issues. For example, look at Moses Herzog in this book. Herzog goes through an ugly divorce, and his circumstances allow him to wallow in his misery and behave erratically for months. I'm sure any of us in similar circumstances would like to put our lives on hold as we picked at our emotional scabs while ignoring our jobs and taking trips across Europe. 
 However, most of us don't get that luxury. Those are usually the times when we can least afford to screw up so even though all you really want to do is hide under the covers or drink heavily or eat ice cream or drink heavily while eating ice cream under the covers, we gotta get up and go to work. And pay the bills. And do the laundry. And get the oil changed in the car. 
 And that's to our advantage. Because getting over something like a divorce means moving on, even if you're faking it half the time. Eventually, you're not faking it anymore, you are actually living your life, and that's how you finally recover. 
 Or you just completely lose your shit and end up getting stuck in endless loops inside your own head as you ping pong from one impulsive thought and whim to another until you're completely unable to tell the good ideas from the bad. Like Moses Herzog. If he would have had to get off his ass and go back to work rather than mooching off his family then he might not have gone cuckoo for Coco-Puffs and come unglued while writing a series of bizarre letters to family, friends, celebrities and dead historical figures. 
 Yes, I know that Saul Bellow was using Herzog to make a statement about how a modern man viewed his life and society in the '60s, and the writing is as good as his reputation. But I just couldn't get into it, mainly because I wanted someone to give Moses a brisk slap and tell him to grow up and get over himself. I didn't dislike the character, I actually felt bad for him. That just made me wish even more that Herzog could start pulling his life back together instead of indulging in his self-involved musings.