The Tenants of Moonbloom
Encyclopedia
The Tenants of Moonbloom is a novel by the Jewish American
writer Edward Lewis Wallant
(1926-1962). Wallant died of an aneurysm
aged 36 with only two books published - The Human Season and The Pawnbroker
. The Tenants of Moonbloom was published posthumously.
, and Norman's life consists of attempting to collect their rent while constantly making them empty promises about much-needed repairs.
At first, Moonbloom resolutely insulates himself against his troublesome tenants, with their incessant complaining and idiosyncratic ways. Little by little, however, his defenses begin crumbling as they talk to him, argue with him, and impart to him their secrets and hopes. These unaccustomed intimacies bring on a seismic shift in Norman's personality, eventually inspiring him to defy his brother (who wants the apartments left exactly as they are) by undertaking all the promised repairs himself. As he goes from apartment to apartment, painting, plastering, and further immersing himself in his tenants' lives, the meek little rent collector finally comes to life.
wannabe who divests Norman of his virginity in exchange for a rent cut; and a prim Italian linguist
afflicted by a terrifying swelling in his bathroom wall. Wallant deftly develops this gallery of characters, giving each of Moonbloom's tenants a distinct and complex personality.
Wallant has an elegant, fluid writing style, and many consider The Tenants of Moonbloom to be an exemplary piece of prose (see below link).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer Edward Lewis Wallant
Edward Lewis Wallant
Edward Lewis Wallant was an American writer.-Life:He lived most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut. Yet his years at Pratt in Brooklyn, daily commuting to the city and frequent visits to jazz clubs impacted the New York settings of his books.His first works were short stories published in the...
(1926-1962). Wallant died of an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
aged 36 with only two books published - The Human Season and The Pawnbroker
The Pawnbroker
The Pawnbroker is a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant which tells the story of Sol Nazerman, a concentration camp survivor who suffers flashbacks of his past Nazi imprisonment as he tries to cope with his daily life operating a pawn shop in East Harlem...
. The Tenants of Moonbloom was published posthumously.
Plot introduction
The story documents the emotional awakening of Norman Moonbloom, an isolated, apathetic man in his thirties who, having recently ended a career as 'perpetual student', is now reluctantly in the employ of his brother Irwin as a property agent. Irwin's tenants occupy a series of dilapidated apartments in some of the poorer areas of ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and Norman's life consists of attempting to collect their rent while constantly making them empty promises about much-needed repairs.
At first, Moonbloom resolutely insulates himself against his troublesome tenants, with their incessant complaining and idiosyncratic ways. Little by little, however, his defenses begin crumbling as they talk to him, argue with him, and impart to him their secrets and hopes. These unaccustomed intimacies bring on a seismic shift in Norman's personality, eventually inspiring him to defy his brother (who wants the apartments left exactly as they are) by undertaking all the promised repairs himself. As he goes from apartment to apartment, painting, plastering, and further immersing himself in his tenants' lives, the meek little rent collector finally comes to life.
Style and characters
The book offers a plethora of wildly diverse characters, including: a gay black jazz musician who moonlights as a gigolo; an ancient German Jew who lives alone in an unspeakably filthy apartment, drinking the days away; a pair of childless sisters who dote on their orphaned nephew, conspiring together to keep him always a child; a blowsy former Shirley TempleShirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
wannabe who divests Norman of his virginity in exchange for a rent cut; and a prim Italian linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
afflicted by a terrifying swelling in his bathroom wall. Wallant deftly develops this gallery of characters, giving each of Moonbloom's tenants a distinct and complex personality.
Wallant has an elegant, fluid writing style, and many consider The Tenants of Moonbloom to be an exemplary piece of prose (see below link).
External links
- Review of The Tenants of Moonbloom at the Guardian Books (UK)
- "Grace among the roaches" – TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
review of The Tenants of Moonbloom from August 16, 1963.