Lion For Love Book

A tale of three books, one disappointing, one unnecessary, one good. The pretense of structuring the action around the one night that Joyce and Proust met must have been a great launching point for Davenport-Hines, but despite the interesting personalities at the party in question (Diaghilev! Picasso!), nothing much happens and the action devolves into senseless name-dropping (at one point, he compares the big night to a meeting between Joan Collins and Schwarzenegger). It's a shame, because a section on the party hosts later in the book is strongly researched and illuminating. The unnecessary comes in the form of analysis of Proust's novel, which others have done better and without this unnecessary frame. Finally, the sixty or so pages of background into the reception of SODOM and GOMORRAH are genuinely fascinating. As it adds up, this is for fanatics only.