GLR May-June 2025

scenery. Along the way, Bernie teaches Leah to drive, and de spite her intention to stay honest and loyal to her partner, Leah finds Bernie irresistible. The author’s wryly humorous observations about contem porary American culture suggest that most people’s hopes for the future are unlikely to be fulfilled. Leah and Bernie, how ever, achieve a kind of fame when their exhibit attracts re spectful crowds and positive reviews. Like true-to-life visual art and well-chosen commentary, this novel seems to convey a kind of authenticity that now seems almost extinct. _______________________________________________________ Jean Roberta is a widely published writer based in Regina, Sas katchewan, Canada.

among other subjects, cultural life in Germany after World War II, France’s repressive tactics during the Algerian War of Inde pendence, and recollections from his privileged background. Editors Robert Schwartzwald and Sherry Simon have com piled a representative selection of Roditi’s works, dividing them into four sections, with an introduction for each. A general in troduction gives an informative background on Roditi, who is not as well-known as many of the people he writes about. While each section generally covers one topic, such as literary por traits, political issues, and reminiscences, several themes over lap, including homosexuality, literature, and memory. In “Cruising with Hart Crane,” Roditi remembers meeting the American poet at a mutual acquaintance’s Parisian home, after which Crane drags him off to a seedy gay bar. Roditi was shocked by the behavior of his literary hero, urinating in the Métro and abusing the protesting passers-by. He abandons Crane in mid-fight, learning later that he was arrested and de ported after another altercation. In “Tea at Lady Ottoline,” Roditi speaks of his encounter with Eric Blair, not yet George Orwell, and a scene they both witnessed in Trafalgar Square among homeless people that found its way into one of Orwell’s novels. Roditi was later in vited to Lady Ottoline’s salon. From an aristocratic family, Lady Ottoline was friendly with the Bloomsbury Group until they snubbed her for, among other eccentricities, wearing a veil to hide her deformed jaw. Roditi, the youngest and most avant garde member of her literary circle, found Lady Ottoline ex ceedingly kind. She consulted him on how to assist Stephen Spender’s recently discarded younger male lover, who had been working as Spender’s assistant. Even his essays on writers that he doesn’t know personally are insightful. In “The Poetry of Constantine Cavafy,” he no tices that Cavafy uses rare words that readers would neverthe less know “by analogy.” Cavafy would meet men by the dock, and during conversation would drop some of these words to see if they understood them. If they did, he would use the words; if not, he would find substitutes. “The Poetry of Yunus Emre” finds connections in themes between Western medieval litera ture and the 13th-century Turkish poet Emre, and examines Emre’s intimate poems written to his literary and religious men tors, recognizing that to many they read like “love poems.” The excerpts from his memoirs make for fascinating read ing. “Camondo’s Way” explores two Jewish families distantly related to him. One, a branch of the Rothschilds, is reserved and stuffy, while the other, the Camondos, are warm and inviting. The patriarch, advising the French government on their art col lections, encourages Roditi’s own collecting. The Camondos are Sephardic Jews of Eastern and African descent, as is Roditi’s father’s family, and he recounts both families’ backgrounds in Constantinople, Greece, and Italy, working as merchants before leaving for Europe, earning titles for their service to these states. Filled with details and unique characters, these memories re mind us of the precarious state of marginalized groups. While more examples of Roditi’s poetry and translations would have been appreciated, Worldwise showcases his intel lect, his diverse passions, and his sympathies. Hopefully it will encourage readers to seek out more of his work. ______________________________________________________________ Charles Green is a writer based in Anapolis, Maryland.

Finding the Fit

C HARLES G REEN

WORLDWISE Édouard Rodi ti ’s Twen ti eth Century Edited by Robert Schwartzwald and Sherry Simon McGill Queen’s University Press. 252 pages, $32.95 W ORLDWISE is a diverse collection of writings by the 20th-century poet, translator, critic, and commenta tor Édouard Roditi (1910–1992). Born in Paris to a wealthy Jewish family tracing its origins to Greek, Spanish, and Italian communities, Roditi encountered many of the 20th cen tury’s cutting-edge literary figures, including George Orwell, Hart Crane, and Maurice Sachs. He also covered other writers working in different languages, such as Constantine Cavafy, Fer nando Pessoa, Italo Svevo, and Yunus Emre, and discussed,

Édouard Roditi in 1982. Photo by Gregory Stephenson.

TheG & LR

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