Scumbler

Scumbler is a painter who works in the streets of Paris. Every morning he takes his brushes, paints etc and goes out in search for something that would be worth putting on his canvas. Every day brings new adventures, new people he meets, new places he discovers. Painting does not bring enough dough so he supplements his income by letting (more often subletting) apartmennts which also allows him to meet new people. Sometimes he makes it and gets load of money for his work, sometimes disaster strikes and his paintings go up in smoke but his attitude to all that is as philosophical as that of Zorba the Greek. This is a man who has been through a lot and now enters the last period in his life so he makes sure it still is a life worth living. The book often feels more like a collection of short stories than a novel, some characters disappear, some come back and some don't, some stories don't get a clear ending, but still it is worth to let Wharton take you for a ride in Paris of the 1970s which does not exist any more.

William Wharton has written an in depth portrait of an artist with a zest for life but with the inevitable frustration and depression of coping with an aging body. This book left me with a strong image of the man and his Parisian surroundings. I am sure many men would relate to this book and it helped me, a woman, understand the emotions that can affect elderly men. Maybe it was my shortcomings but I found the short verse lines which intersperse the narrative, not always helpful and often blocking the flow of the story. Overall another William Wharton delightful novel - I am a fan!