Kafka Was The Rage

BookDescription"Nineteenforty-sixwasagoodtime—perhapsthebesttime—inthetwentiethcentury.Thewarwasoverandtherewasaterrificsenseofcomingback,ofrepossessinglife.Rentswerecheap,restaurantswerecheap,anditseemedtomethathappinessitselfmightbecheaplyhad."Broyardmadehisfirstbidforhappinessbymovinginwithayoungpainter,thedifficultandchallengingSheriDonatti—aprotegeeofAnaisNin—whoneverworeunderpantsandwho"embodiedthenewtrendsinart,sex,andpsychosis."Broyardtellstheirstory;byturnscomicandpoignant,whiledescribingalongthewayhismeetingswithCaitlanandDylanThomas,DelmoreSchwartz,DwightMacDonald,MayaDeren,WilliamGaddis,andotherwritersandartistsjustbeginningtheircareers.HeopensabookstoreonCorneliaStreet("Ifithadn'tbeenforbookswewouldhavebeenentirelyatthemercyofsex.Bookssteadiedus,theygaveusgravity.").HegoestotheNewSchoolandlistenstoEricFromm,KarenHorneyandMeyerShapiro("Iwenttohimasstudents,twentyyearslater,wouldgotoIndia.").Hetriesgoingtoapsychoanalysist("Inevergavehimachance.lhadaliteratureratherthanapersonality.").Indazzlingprose,Broyardcaptureswithcrystallineclaritythefeelingofaparticulartimeandplace"wheneverythingmattered,everythingwasserious."Witheconomy,style,wit,flair,andastoundingpowersofobservation,Broyardhasleftusamostremarkablememoir.FromKirkusReviewsBrilliant,funny,penetratingobservationsonlifeandcultureinN.Y.C.afterWWIIfromcriticBroyard,whodiedofcancerin1990(IntoxicatedbyMyIllness,1992).``Nineteenforty-sixwasagoodtime--perhapsthebesttime--inthetwentiethcentury,''writesBroyard,andthereaderwishesthatthecriticwerestillheretowriteadozenmorebooksjustlikethiswonderfulonetoexplainfurtherexactlywhathemeans.Broyardwas26theyearafterthewar,andhisentreetothenhousing-scarceGreenwichVillagetooktheformofmovinginwiththedifficultandchallengingSheriDonatti,enigmaticabstractpainter,wearerofnounderpants,andproteg?eofAna?sNin.ComedybothribaldandpoignantfollowsasBroyardtellsthetaleofhisbrieflifewithSheri--including,alongtheway,sketchesofhismeetingswiththelikesofW.H.Auden(whomSheribumpsinto--literally),ErichFromm,MeyerSchapiro,DelmoreSchwartzandothers,includingNinherself(``Herlipstickwasprecise,hereyebrowsshavedoffandpenciledin,givingtheimpression,''remarksBroyard,``thatshehadwrittenherownface'').AbreakwithSheriisinevitablebut,bythetimeitcomes,thereaderknowshowthoroughlysheemblemizedthecomplicatedironies(anddead-ends)ofpostwarcriticismandart--andhowBroyardwastomanagegoingonafterwardinhisownway.Againandagain,hisindependenceandrightjudgmentrevealthemselvesinamindthat,inaWhitmanesqueway,passionatelyinsistsonagenuineintegrationoflifeandart:``Iwantedtobeanintellectual,too,toseelifefromagreatheight,yetIdidn'twanttogiveupmysenseofconnection,myintimacywiththings.WhenIreadabook,Ialwayskeptoneeyeontheworld,likesomeonewatchingtheclock.''Vitalcriticismthat--inthesewoebegonedaysespecially--iswondrouslytobevalued.AboutAuthorAnatoleBroyard(1920–1990)wasanAmericanliterarycriticforTheNewYorkTimes.Inadditiontohisreviewsandcolumns,hepublishedseveralbooksduringhislifetime,andhismostautobiographicalworks,IntoxicatedByMyIllnessandKafkaWastheRage:AGreenwichVillageMemoirwerepublishedafterhisdeath.BookDimension:length:(cm)20.4width:(cm)13.3