The Argus caught up with English professor Henry Abelove to discuss “The Man Who Would Marry Susan Sontag And Other Intimate Portraits of the Bohemian Era” by Edward Field, which Abelove is currently reading in his spare time.
Argus: What is this book about?
Henry Abelove: It’s about Bohemian and artistic life in New York City, especially in the forties and fifties.
Argus: What do you think about the author?
HA: He’s a minor poet, with a very small reputation. I came across the book in a used book store, hadn’t even known it existed, but I love memoirs, and I know a little about the author’s poetry, and all the wonderful and interesting people he knew well in the forties and fifties, so I was glad to buy the book, and I’ve been intrigued as I read it.
Argus: So you chose this book on a whim?
HA: I wouldn’t say that, exactly. I love to go to used bookstores. There are about four of them within walking distance of my apartment in New York City, where I live on weekends. And I like to be surprised, to find books that I didn’t even know existed, and to find books that I think might interest me. I only buy books that I think might interest me, so there’s very little element of whim.
Argus: Do you usually read non-fiction?
HA: I read some fiction, but probably more non-fiction and poetry, both, than I do fiction.
Argus: How do you usually select your books?
HA: I read quite extensively in the fields in which I’m a specialist—that’s a matter of course, you understand. I get such books every week, often from the library, but sometimes by purchase. The books I read for pleasure are of two kinds. Some are detective stories; those are books I read just to unwind—I pick them up anywhere, anywhere handy. The other books I read for pleasure are the ones I’ve talked about already, the kind in used bookstores. In the case of the book by Edward Field, I’m interested in the people he knew in the forties and fifties; it’s more of that than an interest in him. He knew James Baldwin, the painter Grace Hartigan, the poet Frank O’Hara, and the novelist May Swenson. And all these people interest me very much; they’re perhaps more important artists and writers than Field is himself.
Argus: How does this book relate to you personally or to your research?
HA: It’s only tangentially related to any research project of mine, but it relates to me personally because I love the work of the people whom he was close to, who I just mentioned.
Argus: Would you recommend this book to students?
HA: It depends if they like memoirs, and anecdotes about these figures from the forties and fifties. If they do, it’s a good read. If they don’t, the book hasn’t much to offer. It isn’t in itself an important book, or even a very entertaining book.
Argus: What’s your favorite book, and why?
HA: I don’t know if I have a single favorite book. I’ll have to give you three different answers. Favorite in one sense would be Thoreau’s “Walden,” because it’s had more of an impact on my way of living my life, I think, than any other book I’ve read. Jane Austen’s “Emma” is the book I reread most frequently, so I guess that’s the book that’s given me more pleasure than any other book. David Hume’s “A Treatise of Human Nature” is another favorite, because that’s the most profound book I know.
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