The Cliff: A Novel - Hardcover

Slavitt, David R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807117811 ISBN 13: 9780807117811

Publisher: LSU Press, 1994

Synopsis

John Smith is an imminent historian, secure in his well-paid position as an endowed professor at a major university. Any day he expects a favorable reply to his application for a residency at the Villa Sfrondata, a foundation-supported colony for artists and intellectuals on the banks of Italy’s Lake Como, where he hopes to finish work on a study of Mussolini

John Smith―the other John Smith―is a bitter and failed novelist, an adjunct assistant professor of English at the same university. Suffering from writer’s block, ignored by his daughter, hounded by his former wife’s attorney for back alimony, and about to lose his job, his prospects could not be dimmer―that is, until the day the Villa Sfrondata’s invitation to the eminent historian is delivered to him by mistake. Before you know it, the down-and-out-how-can-things-get-worse-what-have-I-got-to-lose John Smith is in Italy, ensconced, imposter though he is, in a room at the centuries-old villa.

But what had promised to be a blissful if ill-gotten idyll quickly sours. The villa is drafty and decaying, the staffs are surly and incompetent, and the other residents―among them a Nigerian economist, a Washington lawyer, a book designer, an art historian, and a feminist poet from California―are a motley and eccentric group whom Smith finds all but insufferable. He seizes every opportunity to deflate their overblown pretensions with a razor-sharp wit, which he possesses in astonishing abundance. At the same time, he must take care that some misstep does not reveal him as a fraud. His life is further complicated when one of the guest―the despised feminist poet―mysteriously disappears.

After passing through what he calls “a cloudy afternoon of the soul,” including the very real fear that he will be implicated in the disappearance of the poet, Smith contrives in the end to amend his life and even to revive his all but abandoned literary career.

This devastatingly satiric and funny book, David R. Slavitt’s fiftieth, is a complicated burlesque that turns out to be a moving story of human frailty and spiritual rebirth. It is a feat of literary legerdemain that will dazzle even admirers of Slavitt’s Turkish Delights, Lives of the Saints, Salazar Blinks, and The Hussar.

About this title

About the Author

David R. Slavitt has published 130 books of poetry, fiction, and translation. Born in White Plains, New York, and educated at Andover, Yale, and Columbia, Slavitt has worked at Newsweek and taught at Temple University, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Bennington College.

From the Back Cover

John Smith is an eminent historian, secure in his well-paid position as an endowed professor at a major university. Any day he expects a favorable reply to his application for a residency at the Villa Sfrondata, a foundation-supported colony for artists and intellectuals on the banks of Italy's Lake Como, where he hopes to finish work on a study of Mussolini. John Smith - the other John Smith - is a bitter and failed novelist, an adjunct assistant professor of English at the same university. Suffering from writer's block, ignored by his daughter, hounded by his former wife's attorney for back alimony, and about to lose his job, his prospects could not be dimmer - that is, until the day the Villa Sfrondata's invitation to the eminent historian is delivered to him by mistake. Before you know it, the down-and-out-how-can-things-get-worse-what-have-I-got-to-lose John Smith is in Italy, ensconced, imposter though he is, in a room at the centuries-old villa. But what had promised to be a blissful if ill-gotten idyll quickly sours. The villa is drafty and decaying, the staff are surly and incompetent, and the other residents - among them a Nigerian economist, a Washington lawyer, a book designer, and art historian, and a feminist poet from California - are a motley and eccentric group whom Smith finds all but insufferable. He seizes every opportunity to deflate their overblown pretensions with a razor-sharp wit, which he possesses in astonishing abundance. At the same time, he must take care that some misstep does not reveal him as a fraud. His life is further complicated when one of the guests - the despised feminist poet - mysteriously disappears. After passing through what he calls "acloudy afternoon of the soul", including the very real fear that he will be implicated in the disappearance of the poet, Smith contrives in the end to amend his life and even to revive his all but abandoned literary career. This devastatingly satiric and funny book, David R. Slavitt's fiftieth, is a complicated burlesque that turns out to be a moving story of human frailty and spiritual rebirth. It is a feat of literary legerdemain that will dazzle even admirers of Slavitt's Turkish Delights, Lives of the Saints, Salazar Blinks and The Hussar.

Reviews

Jack Smith, the embittered and cynical protagonist of Slavitt's 50th book, is not a pleasant person-yet the author (Crossroads) carries off the feat of making him sympathetic to readers. Smith is about to be laid off from his position as assistant adjunct professor of English at a large university when serendipity strikes and he mistakenly receives an invitation, intended for a colleague of the same name, to reside at an exclusive Italian arts colony. Seizing the moment, Smith flies to the picturesque Villa Sfondrata, where he argues with his fellow guests, rails at the quality of the food and avoids making his child-support payments, all the while pretending to work on a biography of Mussolini. Then the unexpected occurs: the self-proclaimed "ex-writer" finds the desire to write again. Smith's witty and playful narration entertains despite some conveniences in the plot. It is his attempt to retain a sense of basic human dignity, however-his desire to prove that he is not "an altogether worthless person"-that lies at the heart of the novel and invests it with meaning and resonance.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Prolific author Slavitt (Turkish Delights, 1993, etc.) deals up a delightful satire that punctures academia with a sure and measured hand. There are two Jack Smiths at the same East Coast university. One is a world-renowned historian; the other is a wastrel adjunct assistant professor with writer's block. Though there is certainly no confusing the two, they often receive each other's mail. When an invitation arrives from a religiously oriented foundation, offering the famous Jack Smith an opportunity to be a scholar in residence at its villa in Italy where he can research and write his book on the capture and execution of Mussolini, the missive is misdirected to his failure of a doppelg„nger. This Jack Smith is being pursued by his ex-wife for back alimony and about to be dismissed by the college. He figures that a vacation on the Mediterranean is just the ticket he needs. When the historian suffers a heart problem and is sidelined for the semester, the other Jack Smith takes his place (and identity) and skips off to Europe. At the villa, he complains incessantly about the shabbiness of the accommodations and observes the pomposity of his fellow guests. He also delves into possible links between the villa and the death of Il Duce. Overcoming his writer's block, he begins a mystery that is only a thinly disguised version of his sojourn. When a poet, whom Smith had wished dead, disappears in a manner eerily akin to the plot of his novel, Smith fears suspicion will be cast upon him. Slavitt deftly takes readers on Smith's journey, a trip that will lead him to self-discovery, spiritual rebirth, success, and a recovery of his relationship with his estranged daughter. Witty and urbane, the book is sure to capture the minds, if not the hearts, of armchair travelers and those who enjoy dark humor with their literature. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

John Smith, a lowly university professor, mistakenly receives acceptance to a residency at a prestigious villa for scholars in Italy. The other Smith, an eminent historian, is having surgery. Nevertheless, the first Smith accepts and goes to the villa to mingle with tony academicians who are in various stages of pretentiousness, phoniness, and incompetence. Since the villa and the foundation running it are in similar straits, Smith's observations about the situation are wickedly on target. His literary letters to his daughter and an admittedly clever essay on the death of Mussolini are somehow sandwiched in. There is quite a bit of leg-pulling in this short, mostly fun, and very well-written novel. Academic and large public libraries will want a copy.
Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807117811
• ISBN 13: 9780807117811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 154