I appreciate your prompt, courteous, and insightful response. As thesis research will begin zestfully in the spring, I certainly hope that contact between us will continue. If you do not find my potentially substantial inquiries cumbersome, I will undoubtedly seek you as a reference point when I find myself in a rut or needing some guidance for a piece of research.

Two questions: 1) There is a noticeable shift between Jerusalem Poker and Nile Shadows from fantastical realism to realism. That is to say, Nile Shadows and Jericho Mosaic do not maintain the same aura of fantasy and myth as Tapestry and Poker. This shift, to me, is intentional, but for what reason? 2) Strongbow's Levantine Sex (not too) subtely attacks several modern dialectical thinkers from the 19th century: Freud, Marx, even Nietzsche to a degree. Is Strongbow's vision of a chaotic and orderless world a reflection of EW's own dialectical approach to the world? If so, wouldn't this ideal (chaos and disorder) contradict EW's ideal Middle East, since the co-existence of Christians, Muslims, Jews would require a most severe degree of order and structure.

Thanks again,
Joseph

PS. A third question: If you find Bell of Jericho Mosaic more representative of EW, would Bletchley of Nile Shadows also be representative of EW, as they are, I assume, the same character?

--Previous Message--
: Joseph,
: Thanks for your kind comments on the site and
: welcome to the Edward Whittemore Appreciation
: Society as you obviously are a member.
: Regarding the books that may have influenced
: Edward Whittemore, it is not at all clear
: what would have been on his bookshelf.
: In Tom Wallace's memoir there is some
: reference to Whittemore's taste for spy
: novels as in his favorite writers were Le
: Carre and Greene.
: There is a reference to Lawrence Durrell's
: Alexandria Quartet in Jerusalem Poker where
: Nubar Wallenstein is described as having a
: taste for bad poetry and particularly the
: poems of Arnauti. Arnauti is the author of a
: book called "Moeurs" in the novel
: Justine.
: As for Stern representing Whittemore, even
: though he is the expression of Whittemore
: dreams for the Middle East, I think he is
: just that, the physical representative of
: those ideals.
: I've always thought that Bell (the old spy
: master)in Jericho Mosaic is more Whittemore.
: Abu Musa is styled on one of Whittemore's
: friends, Musa Farhi & a further hint is
: that Moses the Ethiopian eunuch was probably
: dreamed up from where Whittemore lived in
: Jerusalem - next to a Ethiopian monastery in
: Ethiopia St.
: It is certainly fascinating searching out
: where all his characters come from.
: Your mention of Tom Robbins reminds me of an
: email I received several years ago. Tom
: Robbins is a Whittemore fan and has been
: influenced by Whittemore rather than the
: other way around.
: I wish you well with your thesis and would be
: delighted to render any assistance I can.
: I could ask Whittemore's old editor if he
: remembers Whittemore's taste in Literature.
: Regards,
: Anne
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Anne,
: Kudos to your site! I was only recently
: introduced to the brilliance of Whittemore
: and now am seeking to dedicate my first
: profound endeavor-M.A. Thesis-in literary
: scholarship to popularizing EW in the
: contemporary American canon. Since the
: beginning of this year I have easily and
: fanatically plowed through the Quartet twice.
: Actually, the second trip through the novels
: was more of an archaeological dig. Your site
: has certainly been helpful, especially with
: discovering which authors and novels EW may
: have kept on his own bookshelf.
: While I commonly see references and
: comparisons to Robbins, which, to me, is
: something of an insult, Pynchon, though EW is
: less intellectually pompous, and Vonnegut, I
: wonder if you have any further insights to
: authors or novels that may have influenced
: EW? Garcia-Marquez? Faulkner?
: Finally, it seems that Stern's ideal Middle
: East is fashioned after EW's own idealistic
: vision of the Middle East. Since most, if not
: all, of EW's characters are forged from some
: actual historical individual, should I
: assume,then, that Stern was created from EW's
: interpretation of his own self?
: Again, I appreciate the site you have created
: and look forward to being a regular visitor.
: Sincerely,
: Joseph
:
: :
: