New York Magazine - USA (2020-02-17)

Claude McKay’s Romance in Marseille

is a modern masterpiece.

PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

Reading it, I got the sweaty, panickedsen-

sation of wanting to “do something”with

the information I had (“This book is incred-

ible!”) before anyone else did. This ishow

I imagine it feels to be a jewel thief who

finds a key to a museum, except whatI’m

empowered to “do” with this hot tip, instead

of stealing a fortune, is compose a review.

Well, I made my bed.

Lafala is a sailor born in West Africa(an

unspecified part of it) who movestothe

Port of Marseille and gets fleecedbya

Moroccan prostitute. Filled withself-

loathing over the incident, he stows awayon

a ship to New York but is caught and impris-

oned next to a toilet, where he gets frostbite.

Upon arrival, both his lower legs haveto

be amputated. It’s like one of thoseshirts

you see for sale to tourists on Canal Street:

welcome to new york. now go home.

A clever, unscrupulous lawyer (Jewish,of

course, in the book’s sole nose-wrinkling

stereotype) gets wind of Lafala’s case,and

together they sue the shipping company.

Lafala receives a windfall and heads backto

Marseille to take up a footless, moneyed

version of dockside life—and to locatethe

treacherous siren who jilted him.

The book is newly available, but McKay,

who died in 1948, started writing it 91years

ago. Its history is a rat’s nest of logistical

bloopers. First, the book was calledThe

Jungle and the Bottoms. The authoraban-

doned the manuscript for a couple ofyears

while he suffered from syphilis andother

distractions; then he moved to Morocco

and took it up again, reworking thestory

and retitling it Savage

Loving. This title

McKay swapped for

the current oneafter

his agent deemedSav-

age Loving tooobscene

and before heaban-

ROMANCEIN

MARS

BY CLAUD

PENGUIN CLASSICS.

“One of [the Met’s] most important productions

of the year” —The New York Times

Valery Gergiev conducts François Girard’s gripping

new production of Wagner’s stirring ghost story,

with Evgeny Nikitin in the title role and Anja Kampe

in her highly anticipated Met debut as Senta.

Tickets start at $25 metopera.org 212.362.6000

Der Fliegende

Holländer

WAGNER

The Flying Dutchman

MARCH 2–27

PHOTO: LOUISE LEBLANC / QUEBEC OPERA