February House Book

4.5, rounded up

If time travel were possible, I would send myself back to 1940-41 to spend just one evening at 7 Middagh Street, Brooklyn. As that option is currently impossible, stepping into the pages of Sherrill Tippins' February House offers the next best thing. And what a treat it is. The rundown house was the talk of New York. Artists, musicians and authors clamored for an invitation and there was a long list of those looking for a chance at occupancy. It was the most exciting literary salon of the time, the 'epicenter of European & American culture'. The inhabitants consisted of a group of young artists, under the age of thirty-four, most still in their twenties, who had shot to early fame: W.H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Benjamin Britten and his lover Peter Pears, Jane and Paul Bowles, the famous burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee and others. Even a chimpanzee lived there for a short period.

'February House', as it was coined by Anais Nin, was George Davis' dream, an experiment in communal living, of sharing ideas with the hope of fostering productive artistry. Although the drinking and partying led to loud, long nights, not always conducive to work, McCullers, while living there (off and on due to her health), worked on her last two masterpieces, The Ballad of the Sad Café and The Member of the Wedding, Gypsy Rose Lee started writing her mystery, The G-String Murders and Auden did some of his best work. Many notable people passed in and out of the house as guests - Christopher Isherwood, Janet Flanner, Klaus and Erika Mann, Salvador Dali and his intimidating wife Gala …the list goes on.

Tippins does an admirable job in juggling her prodigious cast of characters, portraying these larger-than-life artists while working within the constraints of a small slice of history. She avoids sacrificing the individual under these limitations, capturing their unique personalities and bringing them to life. She manages to portray a motley mix of eccentrics with respect and sympathy while providing some fabulous, unforgettable, 'gossipy' anecdotes along the way. She also offers a look at the tensions that arose as Europe fought the Nazis (it was the year before the United States entered WWII) and how they impacted Auden, Isherwood and Britton, who faced criticism for not returning to England to fight.

Tippins' book is serious, thoughtful, well researched, and the most fun I've had with a piece of nonfiction in recent years, even if I felt it fizzled out a bit at the end. Admittedly, my pleasure springs from the fact that several of the artists are beloved and have fascinated me for years. 'February House', 7 Middagh Street, was demolished in 1945 but it will not be easily forgotten. It even inspired a short-run musical of the same name in 2012. If time travel is ever available in my lifetime, book my ticket.