The Tenants of Moonbloom (New York Review Books Classics)

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A lucky find

A little-known masterpiece

A tour de force of how to overcome life's conditions

Life in the big city

lyrical, musical, surprisingly earthy

The Tenants of Moonbloom (New York Review Books Classics)
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590170709
Release Date: 2003-11-30

Book Description

Norman Moonbloom is a loser, a drop-out who can't even make it as a deadbeat. His brother, a slumlord, hires him to collect rent in the buildings he owns in Manhattan. Making his rounds from apartment to apartment, Moonbloom confronts a wildly varied assortment of brilliantly described urban characters, among them a gay jazz musician with a sideline as a gigolo, a Holocaust survivor, and a brilliant young black writer modeled on James Baldwin. Moonbloom hears their cries of outrage and abuse; he learns about their secret sorrows and desires. And as he grows familiar with their stories, he finds that he is drawn, in spite of his best judgment, into a desperate attempt to improve their lives.

Edward Lewis Wallant's astonishing comic tour de force is a neglected masterpiece of 1960s America.

Customer Reviews:

A lucky find.......2007-02-07

I found this book amid my wanderings and grazings in the library and was deep in the story before I knew it. "How the heck did that happen," I wondered, looking at my finger marking the place past the middle of the book.
I was surprised that Wallant could make his ghostlike protagonist so easy to keep company with. Moonbloom has some interesting people to puzzle out and be touched by, in spite of his interior distance, and that's part of what makes this a compelling read, but it's Moonbloom himself, in his innocent emptiness, becoming stained by life, that gives this book its poetry.
Wallant writes some beautiful lines, ways of seeing that are another seduction. He makes the characters grotesque in the most human ways, describing the tenants in all their peculiar, disturbing complexity, finding details that fascinate as a child is fascinated by the strangeness of the world.
The story tips over at times into what you could call sappiness, but it's the kind of sappiness you find in the best depression era movies--it makes you feel good in spite of all the crap and misery you rub up against
I'd love to see this book transformed into a play, it's got great emotion in the language and the scenes, in the movement of the plot.
As I read I floated effortlessly along, enjoying the great injections of Wallant's love of the world and humankind, crud, mud, cuts and all, shining with nobility and dignity in the lowest places, arriving at the end with tears of laughter. I love art that draws together the extremes and in the contrast breaks you open with beauty and grief. Wallant pulls this off, and he's not subtle about it. I'm glad he had the guts to be so transparently transcendent.
That's not for everyone, but probably most people who open this book and start reading will want to keep reading, and will be sorry that the story can't keep going for a while longer.

A little-known masterpiece.......2006-12-12

Before picking up this book to read for a book group discussion, I had only vaguely heard of Wallant. I now see what I had been missing. Had he lived, Wallant would have found a significant place in 20th-century American literature.

Having read the book, I am convinced that Wallant was an American original with a distinctive voice. Not much happens in The Tenants of Moonbloom. Most of the action is interior to the characters, who are living their days in quiet desperation. Wallant is able to show humanity as it is -- no retouching here -- without succumbing to cynicism. He cares deeply for all his characters, with all their flaws and errors.

At the center of the action is Norman Moonbloom, who finds a secular religion and acts upon it. He is one of the more unforgettable characters whom I have encountered.

A tour de force of how to overcome life's conditions.......2006-11-29

NYRB Tenants of Moonbloom

I don't remember how I decided to buy a copy of The Tenants of Moonbloom--but it no longer matters. Perhaps because the main character Norman Moonbloom is a rent collector and agent for his brother Irwin's tenements, and two key characters are the superintendent and a plumber, I sensed that the Manhattan experience might shed some light on my parents' motel in Colorado. The back cover blurb of the novel says that, as Moonbloom collects the rent money, he hears the tenants' "cries of outrage and abuse[;] he learns about their secret sorrows and desires[.] And as he grows familiar with their stories, he finds that he is drawn . . . into a desperate attempt to improve their lives." In my parent's motel, as in the narrative of Moonbloom, no one is ever anonymous when rent is collected in person or repairs and renovations are made while the tenant is on the premises. Things aren't done so personally anymore, and as a result, with this novel of 1963, we get a peek into the past. However, nothing in this novel is like anything I've ever read. In retrospect, this novel is so unique and unclassifiable that none of the jacket blurbs or commentary can tell the reader exactly what it's about; truly, one must read the novel.

Norman on himself: "Oh me," he said shrugging. "I'm New York's most educated rent collector. I'm trying to make what I'm stuck with into a vocation" (48).

The Tenants of Moonbloom raises many questions for readers interested in the craft of writing. To me, New York City, and Manhattan in particular, have always represented cultural diversity; when all other places seemed homogenous, one expected a crazy mix in NYC. Wallant's task was difficult: How does a writer craft episodes with ethnically, racially, or emotionally diverse people while avoiding stereotype? These kinds of diversity, in Tenants of Moonbloom, appear kooky or kinky and exotic to the reader not from New York, but the characters' misery and alienation makes the ending almost necessary. This might be the only novel--that I recall--that reconciles these wide differences and links the fate of the characters.

Until this novel, it had never occurred to me that renovating and cleaning rentals could be a spiritual experience. The Tenants of Moonbloom could be New York City's quintessential existentialist novel. Does it depict a kind of crazy, insanely inspired religious experience?

Edward Lewis Wallant's choice of words, his idiolect, his phrasing is at times so unusual that it took my attention away from the action and characters, but I would not have it any other way. Here are a few of Wallant"s images: "Turning, he [Beeler] motioned Norman to sit on a tortured ottoman" (39); "His stomach was used to food prepared for mass lack of taste" (42); "He began to laugh, caught himself, and shivered the mirth to a stop" (171).

Wallant's powers of observation: Norman with Bodien, the plumber, in the smelly, grimy basement, as they inspect and fix the water pipes: "Norman looked up with him at the dark ceiling of the cellar, as though he could see the metal veins carrying the flow through the body of the house, and pictured the sudden resumption of things in all the apartments" (76).

One of Wallant's gemstones: His rendition of writer James Baldwin as Paxton.

Wallant is specific about the location of the Moonbloom tenements. Maybe a reader in the NYC area can shed light on this: 70th Street, Mott Street, 2nd Avenue, and 13th Street.

Life in the big city.......2005-10-05

Frankly, this is one of those books which I find hard to say anything good or bad about. It's a pleasant read, filled with quiet wit, and anyone who's lived in New York will recognize most of the characters therein.

On the other hand, that's about it. The Tenants of Moonbloom isn't horrible. It's simply... uncompelling? Unmemorable? In any case, it's a novel which you can pick up, spend a few enjoyable hours with, then put down and forget all about. Then, months later, when you see it lying besides your sofa, you can begin the process all over again.

lyrical, musical, surprisingly earthy.......2004-02-17

Wallant takes a fairly common premise--Norman Moonbloom works as an agent for his brother Irving's tenements, popping into and out of the tenants' lives to collect the rent--and makes it into an effective and moving vision of moral and social dislocation. There are elderly Holocaust survivors, stoned jazzbos, a young married couple, an od married couple, old cranks, a horny young Chinese-American guy, even a James Baldwin character, all of whom seem somehow marooned and desperate for Norman's attentions. Wallant presents each of them with grace and economy, sketching a vision of early-60s NYC that's somehow cheering despite the pervasive despair. By turns lyrical and earthy, this novel is wonderfully thought-provoking as an allegory (is Norman a Christ figure?) and equally enthralling as a minutely-noted tour through a vanished city.

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The Tenants of Moonbloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Popular Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GX0AJ2

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The Tenants Of Moonbloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GBZX2I

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The Tenants of Moonbloom

Manufacturer: Popular
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GBZX50

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The Tenants of Moonbloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Harcourt, Brace & World
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000E5IF12

Product Description

His third book and first published after his death at age 36.

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The Tenants of MoonBloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Popular Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NPUQDI

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Tenants of Moonbloom
Edward Wallant; Lewis
Manufacturer: HARCOURT, BRACE & WORLD, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000R0EPNQ

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The Tenants of Moonbloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GRBR4U

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The tenants of Moonbloom
Edward Lewis Wallant
Manufacturer: Harvest/HBJ Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK64TM

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Bastion of Darkness: Book 3 in the Chronicles of Ynis Aielle

Return to Ynis Aielle!

Undead soldiers battle for control of Ynis Aielle
Bastion of Darkness: Book Three in The Chronicles of Ynis Aielle (Chronicles of Ynis Aielle, Bk 3)
R.A. Salvatore
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345421930
Release Date: 2000-08-01

Book Description

Twice the combined might of Ynis Aielle's greatest heroes and wizards
has hurled back the demon armies of Morgan Thalasi.  Always the Black
Warlock has rebounded, stronger and more evil.  But never has he wielded such power as now.  With the Staff of Death, Thalasi can raise a new army from out of the very ground -- soldiers who cannot be killed because they are already dead.

As the Black Warlock and his fearsome general -- the foul wraith that was once Hollis Mitchell -- prepares a devastating attack, the humans and elves of Ynis Aielle are staggered by a fresh calamity.  The beautiful
Rhiannon, daughter of the Emerald Witch, has been captured by Mitchell and given over to his dark master.  Now the last hope of defeating
Thalasi -- and Rhiannon's last hope as well -- lies at the heart of a mountain, guarded by a dragon as old as the world itself. . .

Customer Reviews:

Bastion of Darkness: Book 3 in the Chronicles of Ynis Aielle.......2007-08-23

Salvatore comes through again! The fast action, great charecters, and superb finish we've come to expect are here.
I would recomend this book to old fans and new readers alike.

Return to Ynis Aielle!.......2000-09-27

First I just wanted to say that another review on this page contains major spoilers for this book. Be warned!This is the third book in the Chronicles of Ynis Aielle, which began with Echoes of the Fourth Magic and continued with The Witch's Daughter. If you liked those books, you will like this one too...Eventually. It has a very slow beginning that doesn't have the the usual quality Salvatore feel to it. It has the action but the characters and plot are both very hollow. It seems as if the author had a little trouble gettng back into the flow of this series. JUST KEEP READING- it gets very good. The plot really takes off with the usual R.A. Salvatore combination of Great Characters+Great Aciton=Great Story. In fact the story becomes so good that it is easy to forgive the slow start. A very worthy addition to the wonderful Chronicles of Ynis Aielle series.

Undead soldiers battle for control of Ynis Aielle.......2000-09-09

The good wizards and greatest heros of Ynis Aielle have battled back the Black Warlock, and always he returns stronger and more determined. Now with his Staff of Death, the Black Warlock (also known as Morgan Thalasi) is able to ressurect an army of undead soldiers to do battles. He has also used the staff to bring forth the horrid wraith of Hollis Mitchell his general. Now its up to Rhiannon, the Emerald Witch of Avalon's daughter, and the half elf Brian of Corning to stop Morgan Thalasi, and its up to Belexus Backavar to defeat the wraith of Hollis Mitchell and avangeng his dearest friend. But the only hope of deafeating Morgan Thalasi lies at the heart of a mountain, guarded by a dragon as old as the world itself. Joining the ride to the dreaded Talas-dun is the hyperactive wizard Ardaz, Brielle the Emerald Witch of Avalon, the dead spirit of Jeffery DelGuidice, and the King Benador and the noble Avalon ranger Bellerian. R.A. Slavatore has paid homage to the Magicians and wizards using a discriptive and detailed story of the age old battle of Good and Evil, of Light and Darkness. A wonderful read and exiting tale.

Book Description

"The White Lama Book 3 - The Three Ears" is the 3rd book of the series about the mystical adventure chronicles the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey of Gabriel Marpa, the child of white explores who becomes the reincarnation of the Grand Lama of Tribet.

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Understanding Early Christian Art
Robin Ma Jensen
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0415204550

Book Description

Understanding Early Christian Art offers an insightful, erudite and lavishly illustrated analysis of the meaning and message of early Christianity as revealed in the texts and images of its first practitioners. Robin Margaret Jensen examines the motifs and subjects of early Christian art, integrating them with the symbols and themes of Christian literature and liturgy. Beginning with an analysis of the non-narrative subjects of the early art--the Good Shepherd, the praying figure, fish and birds--Jensen goes on to explore the narrative images found in Roman catacomb painting, sarcophagus relief sculpture, early mosaics, ivories, and manuscript illumination. Finally, the book examines iconographic themes such as Jonah, Daniel, Abraham offering Isaac, and Adam and Eve.

The Wakefield Master's Dramatic Art: A Drama of Spiritual Understanding

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The Wakefield Master's Dramatic Art: A Drama of Spiritual Understanding
Liam O. Purdon
Manufacturer: University Press of Florida
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The Wakefield Master's Dramatic Art examines a single unknown playwright's distinct contribution to the Towneley collection of plays by providing new interpretations of the six plays and two play revisions attributed to this remarkable late-15th-century artist.

Liam Purdon demonstrates how the Master imaginatively treats the axiomatic medieval understanding of the relationship between the cooperative serving of God and serving of self through the technological mastery and practical use of nature. He shows how individual plays offer the audience a way of comprehending cooperation in terms of either abuse or proper use of nature, in terms of the kind of mind that is ready to engage in or reject cooperation, and in terms of the blatant abuse of technological mastery of the legal and political arts.

The distinctive feature of this approach to the Master's work is that it turns attention from the materiality of performance to the figural dimension of the drama itself. Such resituating of the drama as object of critical scrutiny provides an opportunity to reexamine how the medieval mind understood the ethical dimension of aesthetic expression and used that expression to effect individual as well as civic reform.

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