GLR Review March-April 2019

can’t see how her own behavior jeopardizes Joanna’s recovery. As Alexa’s friends disappear from her life because of addiction and AIDS, she relies more on Nate for emotional and financial sup- port, despite finding him physi- cally repellent. Their relationship is a mercenary one, but Nate al- lows Tyler/Alexa to live in his house and encourages her to get help with her addiction. Together they read Rebecca Brown’s 1994 novel The Gifts of the Body , which is about a nurse caring for people with AIDS. Throughout the novel, Alexa frequently mocks Boston’s bour- geois gays as boring, but she ultimately finds the unconditional support she needs in a gay AA group. She thinks to herself dur- ing one AA meeting: “Yes this is cheesy, but all these gay men in a room, speaking to one another. ... I’m wondering if I’ve ever been in a room full of gay men who are trying to take care of one another.” Sketchtasy ends ambiguously, but not without some hope that Alexa will find ways to live creatively but safely in a harsh world. _________________________________________________ Peter Muise writes about New England folklore and legends. ing late at night and frustrated by his lack of progress, he feels the urge to burn his poetry. He also thinks about sex. When a Russian ballet troupe stays at his hotel, he finds himself enamored with a blond male dancer, and, sharing a sofa with him, he slowly works the fabric with his finger until he is inside the uphol- stery, giving the scene a powerfully erotic disposi- tion. Later, he stands outside the dancer’s room, picturing what he might look like naked. The novel is filled with literary references. In his first conversation with the brothers, Mardaras men- tions Marcel Proust, whose “name was unfamiliar to” Constantine, and also that of Anatole France. Con- stantine analyzes Baudelaire’s poem “The Albatross,” seeing the bird as a symbol for “the poet’s position in contemporary society,” but also wondering: “didn’t everyone long for the infinite?” Walking through the city, he mentally works on one of his poems, repeat- ing lines from what will become “The City.” The relationship between Constantine and his brother John is shown to be rather complex. John is also a poet, and the two make suggestions about each other’s work. Constantine re- proaches himself for a quip he made about there not being “room for two poets in one family,” and later mentions a gift John has bought for a servant in front of Mardaras, making John visibly uncomfortable. John has his revenge in a letter that quotes John Donne’s “No man is an island,” leading the nervous Constan- tine to fear the worst. Some elements of the novel are perplexing. Early on, Con- stantine encounters a mysterious young peasant boy with bruises on his legs. The boy makes brief appearances throughout. An- other character mentions his magical facility with pigeons. To- ward the end, Constantine sees the boy in a cage, “hands tied behind his back, a kerchief over his eyes.” Men roughly shove Constantine around, menacingly making him repeat “eggs don’t have skin.” It is hard to understand what the boy might represent, or the meaning behind this bizarre episode. The last chapter is also unusual. Throughout the book, Mar- daras has dropped hints about “the Ark,” a secretive club on the city’s outskirts that is “a den of pleasure.” Constantine finally accompanies Mardaras to the Ark, and his experience is almost hallucinatory as he watches two women, “the queen and god- dess of hysteria,” reacting to the effects of a magnet and a ring- ing sound. This is also where he encounters the boy again. Later, a guest takes him elsewhere to secretly observe two men en- gaging in a strange, unhygienic fetish. It is a final night that Con- stantine will never forget. Karen Emmerich does a wonderful job translating the orig- inal Greek, with an English that flows easily, while keeping the feel of poetry. Awell-researched, sympathetic novel, it should in- spire readers to discover or rediscover Cavafy’s poetry. _________________________________________________ Charles Green is a writer based in Annapolis, Maryland. C HARLES G REEN Cavafy Gets a Back Story What’s Left of The Night by Ersi Sotiropoulos Translated by Karen Emmerich New Vessel Press. 257 pages, $16.95 T HIS IMAGINATIVE NOVEL tells the story of the early years of the poet C. P. Cavafy when he was simply Con- stantine. Set during three days in Paris in 1897 while Cavafy is traveling with his older brother, it shows him slowly discovering his voice and subject matter while exploring the city and remembering its history. Much of the action takes place in Constantine’s mind as he wanders Paris alone and with his brother John or with a fellow Alexandrian, Nikos Mardaras, secretary to the French poet Jean Moreas. Constantine thinks about his poetry, wondering if living in a cosmopolitan city like Paris will improve his work. Work-         Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Jacket photo: Sketchtasy Subscribe to the Digital Edition! Get full Website access at www.GLReview.org ⇐