More ‘Elaborations’

I was gratified to see a prominent and complimentary review of my “Book of Elaborations” in the Nov. 10 Book Review, but I can’t help feeling bemused that reviewer Yaffa Draznin discovered in my essays a “genuine contempt for those who prefer a world of reality to his world of the mind and literary make-believe.” Everything in these essays points to precisely the opposite frame of mind. The chapter entitled “The Artist as Pierrot” expresses from beginning to end thoughts diametrically contrary to those ascribed to me: e.g., “If I can be nostalgic for the Middle Ages in spite of the bubonic plague (and I am), I can also pay homage to my six-cylinder, in spite of the noxious emissions (and I do).”

According to The Book Review, the book has a skimpy 197 pages for $16.95. My copy shows 308 pages and costs a dollar more.

OSCAR MANDEL

Pasadena