This was a stunning novel on so many different levels. So much was going on inside the pages that you almost forget how far down into the story you are and how you got there. It is a novel about New York City at the end of the Jazz Age, the beginning of the Beat Era. It is a novel of loss and horror over the Holocaust. It is an examination of madness, suicide, poetry and what happens to the people who are left behind. The timeline jumps from near-present day into the past and back. I was disturbed by how detached I felt from the main character, Matthais, even though the detachment was written into the character by the author. And I was disturbed at the isolation of the other characters. It echoed my views on New York City and what a lonely place it seems. The closer you are to other people, the more isolated you become. If you love T.S. Eliot, jazz, New York, archives and libraries and a look into the intense and private world of other people's relationships, this is a good read for you.

Sending in trade (for a T.S. Eliot book, no less!) to VixyPixy! Happy Reading!

Received in the mail today... I'll put it on my To Be Read pile, and get to it ASAP. Looks like a good story & I love TS Eliot. Thanks, lightwavz!