December 25, 1942

"What has the Socialism of intellectuals ever to do with the people? Think of Edmund Wilson's socialism so humanist, meditative, and the rest--but it is as self-consciously personal as Flaubert's hatred of socialism; both artists merely talk about their particular vision of the world and their horror of it."

~~ from Alfred Kazin's Journals, entry from December 25, 1942

Cyrus among the socialists

is enjoying the irony of being called "Kundera" by the socialists (typo in review, not at top) https://t.co/vTmTdHTDhL

— Alex Kudera (@kudera) March 23, 2016

In fact, the review is also incorrect in that the word "union" does appear in the novel. It's in a section where Cyrus Duffleman remembers learning from a picketing restaurant worker that a unionized hotel bartender had been earning significantly more per hour to pour drinks than he'd been earning to teach college classes. The recollection doesn't quench Duffy's thirst.