The Gay & Lesbian Review

Further complicating all the relationships is the implication that both Tom and Danny may have been abused by their fa- thers when they were young. This presents yet another hurdle for them to confront as they wrestle with their feelings for one another. If Bitter Eden were merely the story of a reluctant gay man finally acknowledging his sexuality, that might make for a fine, if otherwise unremarkable, novel. What makes the novel so extraordinary is the simplicity with which its meaning un- folds. Issues of gender identity, sexuality, and societal repres- sion all arise organically from the flow of events. Only after Tom is asked to play the role of a woman in the camp play (Lady Macbeth, no less!) does he allow himself to truly ac- knowledge what he feels toward Danny. As he does so, the

issue of masculine versus feminine roles becomes even more clouded for both. Thus, ironically, it is only within the context of a POW camp (the “Bitter Eden” of the title), and by virtue of playing a woman’s role in a play, that Tom is able to ac- knowledge his feelings for another man. Tragically and ironi- cally, the society outside the camp will not be nearly as tolerant, nor allow them or their relationship a place in which to flower. For the details of life as a POW in World War II alone, Bit- ter Eden is an important novel. But it is much more than that. Its depiction of the growing love between Tom and Danny is the frankest, most surprising treatment of love between two men during wartime that I have ever encountered. It is a novel of thrilling artistry, astonishing harshness, and great beauty.

Lenny’s Letters on Display

E DITOR Nigel Simeone has se- lected some 650 letters for this collection of Leonard Bernstein’s correspondence over a span of six decades of the 20th century. The first letter is from 1932, written by a fourteen- year-old Bernstein to his piano teacher, Helen Coates. The last is from 1990: a let- ter to conductor Georg Solti.

Martha Gellhorn (one of Hemingway’s for- mer wives). In addition, there are the mu- sical collaborators: Adolph Green and Betty Comden from On The Town ; Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim from West Side Story ; and choreographer Jerome Robbins, with whom he worked on Fancy Free , West Side Story , and The Dybbuk .

I RENE J AVORS

The Leonard Bernstein Letters Edited by Nigel Simeone Yale. 606 pages, $38.

Among the entertainers with whom he corresponded were singers Lena Horne and Frank Sinatra and jazz legends Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. From these letters, Bernstein emerges as a highly intelli- gent, emotional, impossibly busy, incredibly gifted individual. His musical interests ranged from sacred classical to Broadway lite, while his professional life divided itself more-or-less equally between conducting and composition. Bernstein him- self was acutely aware of his scattered interests and sometimes wondered whether he’d sacrificed a “great” career as a classi- cal composer in pursuit of a public life as a conductor, teacher, and lecturer. Offsetting that concern was an authentic lust for life that led him to grab for everything within reach, musically and otherwise. His personal life included a loving marriage to a woman, children, extra-marital affairs with men, and a long- term relationship with a man. Bernstein’s struggle with his sexuality is a theme that runs through many of the letters. He was attracted to men but wanted a traditional family with a wife and children. After an on-again, off-again engagement, he finally decided to marry Felicia Mon- tealegre, a Chilean actress and musician. She adored him but also knew of his sexual proclivities. She wrote to him (1951- 1952): “you are homosexual and may never change. ... I am willing to accept you as you are ... our marriage is not based on passion but on tenderness and mutual respect.” Surprisingly enough, this understanding actually worked. The couple stayed together for decades, and they even had a few children along the way. Bernstein’s conducting schedule was such that he’d have to be marked down as a “mostly absent” father. He did his best to stay in touch with the family through copious newsy let-

Needless to say, Leonard Bernstein’s correspondents in- clude a “who’s who” of 20th-century musical, literary, political, intellectual, and newsworthy figures: composers Aaron Cop- land, Samuel Barber, Marc Blitzstein; conductors Dimitri Mitropoulos, Serge Koussevitzky, Bruno Walter; actors Judy Holliday, Farley Granger (with whom he purportedly had an affair), Bette Davis; writers Thornton Wilder, James M. Cain,

Photo by Allan Warren

Irene Javors, author of Culture Notes: Essays on Sane Living (2010), is on the faculty of the Mental Health Counseling Program of Yeshiva University in New York City.

March–April 2014

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