Failure's opposite : listening to A.M. Klein /

Canada's premier Jewish writer, A. M. Klein (1909-72) is esoteric, but with this book Ravvin and Simon (both, Concordia Univ., Montreal) open up the writer and his work as never before. They provide historical, intellectual, and linguistic tools for further research into Klein--a left-wing lawyer, Yiddish maven, and Joyce devotee whose novel The Second Scroll (1951) belongs (but rarely appears) in the canon of modernist writing. Among the volume's 13 contributors, Zailig Pollock and Robert Melancon offer particularly fine perspectives. One of the book's four sections focuses on translation: a fine translator, Klein helped bring Yiddish to Canadians. French Montreal critics have foregrounded Klein's Joycean celebration of his city. Those who have written on Klein include Pierre Nepveu, Anne Elaine Cliche, and Pierre Anctil, the last a contributor to this volume. Here one sees Klein in a progression from Yaacov Zipper to Mordechai Richler, documenting the Canadian mosaic into which Jews had to fit to survive. The volume includes a full bibliography and period photographs, the latter unfortunately lacking contrast and clarity. These essays should inspire renewed attention to Klein. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. R. H. Solomon formerly, University of Alberta