Narcissus Leaves the Pool: Familiar Essays

The delight of a well-turned phrase, thoughts with significant references, make this book which ambles through different phases of life a friendly, interesting companion on our journey.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a young man who caught sight of his reflection in a pool of water and became enamoured with it. Over time he died of starvation and thirst because he was unable to leave off from gazing at his own beauty. Joseph Epstein's collection of essays, Narcissus Leaves the Pool, while not as in love with itself as Narcissus, uses Epstein's own conceits, interests and anecdotes on which to base essays with topics as diverse as name-dropping, the quality of sports in America, the pleasure of reading and, most poignantly, the final essay, which acts as an homage to Epstein's friendship with Edward Shils. Memory clings to these essays, memory and the satisfaction of a life lived well. It may come as a surprise that this collection of essays, while almost entirely devoted to different aspects of Epstein's life, both professional and personal, does not in fact fall prey to the problem of Narcissus' endless gaze. Learning about those things in the world which annoy Epstein, or as he calls it, make him feel 'ticked to the min', learning of his love for the works of Henry James and Edward Gibbon, or reading about his uncomfortable triple bypass, comes as a pleasure thanks to his erudition and gently mocking style, the target of which is more often himself than any person, creed, institution or belief. In these essays, Epstein hovers around his sixtieth birthday. He is seventy now, but it can be presumed safely that the relaxed looking backwards nature of his thoughts will have continued rather than reversed. Epstein seems comfortable that he has attained 'old man' status, or as comfortable as a person can be. 'Emerging from the shower,' he says, 'I stand naked in front of my bathroom mirror. This, let the truth be told, is not an altogether enrapturing sight.' Later, Epstein admits that if he were to ogle at women (a pass-time he says appeals less now than at any time since before puberty), he would be considered a dirty old man, rather than a vigorous male admiring an attractive woman. Sunrise, sunset. If there is a theme beyond himself in this book, it would be reading. The essay 'A Real Page Turner' deals with the realisation that all of the grand, masterly tomes that exist in the world may not be read, ever. 'if one is committed to the reading life, if one has decided to think of oneself as a cultivated person, then there are certain lengthy books that one ought to have read.' He lists his own notable achievements - Proust, Gibbon, Tolstoy's War and Peace, Musil's The Man Without Quality, and then he discusses the massive works he has not and will unlikely ever, read. A later essay, 'The Pleasures of Reading,' is about just that. He admits to reading at least four or five hours each day, which to all fellow readers must sound heavenly. Comparing this collection of essays to another of Epstein's, Friendship: An Expose, it is difficult not to notice the anecdotes repeated, the stories told twice now. But is that such a bad

In the title essay of this collection Joseph Epstein takes a cruel, if comical look at what he sees when he emerges from the pool. He looks at his own aging body, and shows sympathy for his wife who has to sleep next to such a body, rather than to merely be 'in it' as he himself is. Age has not been kind, and relatively clean - living has not prevented the various saggings and shiftings of weight which are before him. As with his body so with many other aspects of life Epstein sees with a clear and tough eye many other aspects of reality. The focus in most of these essays is himself, his heart- bypass, his reactions to the for him less than wonderful change in the character of popular - music, the ins and outs of nap-taking, his disenchantment with much modern sport, his way of reading a book to the end now should it be at his age his last crack at reading it. Epstein is both a Bellow- like Chicago tough guy close to the sounds and sights of American life, and an intellectual of the first rank whose moral insights and musings have most often a foundation in solid good sense. He is one of those writers who I find it simply a great joy to read. And he is one of those essayists who like Montaigne in holding a mirror up to himself holds a mirror to mankind in general. Just the best.

I couldn't agree more with the reviewer from Texas, so let me repeat the Texan: a formal indictment should be brought against Phi Beta Kappa for firing Joseph Epstein. The end of the American Scholar as we knew it was the first publishing loss of my young life; now I fully appreciate how lifetime 'New Yorker 'readers felt when William Shawn was dismissed. Anyway, I'm supposed to stick to the book. These essays, originally American Scholar columns, are a great pleasure. Thank you, Mr. Epstein.

A formal indictment should be brought against the editorial board of the American Scholar for firing Joseph Epstein as editor. This wonderful and intelligent collection reminds us of how much he is missed.