The Tenants of Moonbloom
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The Tenants of Moonbloom (1963) 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.
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[edit] Plot
The story documents a period in the life of Norman Moonbloom, an apathetic and somewhat despondent character, who is reluctantly in the employ of his brother Irwin as a property agent. Irwin's tenants reside in some of the poorer areas of Manhattan, and Norman's life consists of attempting to collect their rent and constantly making them empty promises about much-needed repairs.
In the early part of the story Moonbloom is indifferent towards the lives of his tenants, seeing them as a problem and having little time for them. He longs to be rid of them, with their incessant complaining and idiosyncratic ways. However throughout the story the characters develop and begin to involve Moonbloom more in their lives, talking to him, arguing with him and imparting their secrets and hopes to him, until he is totally immersed in their world. Eventually he becomes enamoured with his tenants, full of admiration for their ability to cope amid poverty and hardship.
[edit] Characters
The book is packed with a plethora of wildly diverse characters, from a gay black Jazz musician who moonlights as a gigolo to an ancient German Jew who lives in a roach-infested, decrepit old tenement, drinking the days away. Wallant develops this range of characters to the extent that he gives every one a distinct and complex personality.
[edit] Style
Wallant has an elegant, fluid writing style, and many consider The Tenants of Moonbloom to constitute an exemplary piece of prose (see below link).
