Adam Smith Et Al.

By Rouben Cholakian

Adam Smith et al. alternates book-club discussions about such important writers as Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, Thoreau, and Nietzsche, with interesting short narratives about the discussants themselves. Since each session ends with a gastronomic feast, the text also includes recipes of the food consumed by the members of the book group.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546203780

Rouben Cholakian

The author, whose specialty is early French Literature, has devoted much of his writing to this important sixteenth-century writer. The literary biography, “Marguerite de Navarre: Mother of the Renaissance” (Columbia University Press, 2006) has received enthusiastic reviews, variously called “gripping. . . well-written. . . engrossing. . . and a welcome addition.” See too as companion pieces: “Marguerite de Navarre: Selected Writings (2008),” and “Marguerite de Navarre: A Literary Queen” (2016).

Book preview

© 2017 Rouben Cholakian. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/08/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-0379-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-0378-0 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

1     Décor

2     Dramatis Personnae

3     Philomena

4     Ulysses S. Grant

5     Peter

6     Voltaire

7     Jan

8     Marcus Aurelius

9     Frank

10   Wollstonecraft

11   Arthur

12   Adam Smith

13   Henry

14   Thoreau

15   Gertrude

16   Friedrich Nietzsche

17   Abdullah

18   Friendship

19   Appendix: Recipes

For my friend

Marguerite de Navarre.

1

Décor

The third showing is always a winner, the real estate agent said with far-too-much glee in his voice. All these five buildings were built just before the war, he added while gingerly entering the key into the lock.

Frank, the more outspoken of the pair, was an imposing six footer, who carried his height with admirable ease and elegance. He had an exceptionally high forehead and rather squinty eyes that made you think he was looking through a microscope. That may have been in fact the way he saw his environment. On top of a long florid facial complexion, he had salt and pepper hair trimmed like a newly cropped lawn and he seemed to have an unchanging half smile organized at one end of his mouth.

Arthur, his partner nigh these many years now, was much shorter, such that they made a rather comic Mutt and Jeff duo. Unlike his companion, he was not prone to smiling readily and kept a tightly closed mouth, hinting at his laconic nature. He was not what anyone would have considered conventionally handsome. Sticking out ears and a prominent Adam’s apple made him more interesting than attractive.

"Which war? Frank asked warily, looking into a narrow, chaotic and antiquated kitchen.

The designer intended to make it so that every apartment had river views and this one, among the most spacious, looks out onto the Palisades through virtually all the windows except the bathrooms.

They stepped into a large living room cluttered with tech equipment. Arthur imagined his grand piano in one corner.

I fear the current tenant is not as orderly as he might be, he said, kicking aside a pair of stray shoes.

When I stand here, Arthur said, all I see is a dark rooftop. What is it, an underground shelter?

"Oh you two are a funny pair. Do you do comedy routines?

Only when searching for a place to live.

"It’s actually a garage, very convenient for tenants who have cars.

Their far too garrulous guide was a squat, bald gentleman whose round, bulging eyes seemed to echo the plump head in which they sat. He had a strange way of twisting his body as he ambled awkwardly from space to space.

There are two large bedrooms at opposite sides of the apartment and this smaller room off the foyer has been variously used as. . .

A junk depot.

It could be a dining space.

If you could get into it.

The real estate agent was patently annoyed by the impertinent and unappreciative comments of his sardonic clients, but knew well enough to swing with the punches.

How much do you suppose it would take to bring the kitchen into the modern age? Frank asked, obviously more interested in that area then his partner.

I can recommend a very good carpenter, who has already done a lot of work in this building.

Clearly not nearly enough.

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that evening, after some moments of hesitation, the pair made a bid and was astounded to have it accepted with surprising alacrity.

We must have offered too much, Frank mused.

Of the two of them, he was the more astute and the more likely to see things as they really were. Arthur was a clueless romantic and very often turned to his more down-to-earth partner to make crucial decisions.

Or there is some drawback we missed, Frank continued: a cockroach recreational center under us. Maybe the garage is actually a mafia-meeting place. No wait, the building has been condemned and will soon be knocked down by the authorities.

"Let’s not borrow trouble, Frank, and think of the advantages, not least of which are the panoramic view and that gorgeous private park all to ourselves

2

Dramatis Personnae

It was Tuesday and like clock work the two of them went immediately into action, arranging lights, setting up chairs and disposing of the overflow of books and papers.

Don’t forget to put away your toys, a commanding voice shouted from the stove.

That is what Frank disparagingly called his partner, Arthur’s embroidery equipment, all in good order, to be sure, but nevertheless taking up valuable space, needed for the serious and devoted affiliates of the monthly assembly.

* * * * * * * * * *

It all started about two years ago when Frank bumped into his former neighbour Jan and they began by talking about books they had been recently reading.

Wouldn’t it be fun to do this regularly, Jan suggested.

Book clubs are much in favour these days.

Jan was a good choice for any book group, smart, quick-witted and full of information worth hearing. She looked the part with her large red-rimmed glasses, which she dangled from a cord of the same hue around her neck. Frank had always thought her a handsome woman. She had aged well and was still a good-looker, with amazingly abundant dark black hair that fell loosely around her ears and down to her shoulders.

Before long they contacted friends and a first meeting was set with Thomas Paine as their subject. Frank had been reading about him recently and appreciated the nearly forgotten role of this intelligent political analyst and perceptive observer of events in the early years of the young and emerging republic.

This was by no means to be an ordinary collection of people, reading ordinary books. It was immediately decided that they would concentrate on major authors, the classics as some would say. If asked, they wanted to be able to respond that they selected by weight, expecting the meddlesome inquirers to value the adroit double entendre.

* * * * * * * * * *

When the doorbell rang, they did not have to guess who it was. Philomena always came before the others, with a decided air of authority and a booming voice to match. Once when a friend announced to Arthur that she had heard from Philomena, he asked if she had used a phone. But her most powerful tool for garnering attention was her bouncy choreographic step, enhanced by generous breasts and a supple caboose, designed to provoke and arouse.

Gertrude also made an impressive first appearance, but with a quite different strategy. A bit stern looking because of the way she pulled back her hair in a compact bun and because of a formidably aggressive chin, which she would sometimes press forward like an intimidating weapon. Gertrude inspired reverence and awe more than passion. In time, however, one came to appreciate her cheeky manner, which, with very little prompting, could melt into impromptu humor that made everyone laugh. It became clear that much of the harshness was a front. She was in point of fact a down to business type of woman. Her dress was simple and, unlike Philomena, she did not cover her face with cosmetic strategies. Her only adornment was a pearl necklace that any expert would have immediately recognized as the real thing, probably a family heirloom. She never appeared without it.

The remainder of highbrow devotees trickled in, Henry and Jan Egerton, both medical doctors, and Peter, the architect. Frank said this Pleiades was an auspicious number, pleasing to the Olympian divinity in charge of book groups. More importantly, that amount of people was about all the kitchen staff could comfortably accommodate.

The Egertons were an interesting twosome, quite different, not only in appearance but in brainpower. It didn’t take the trained eye of a psychologist to see that the male animal in this partnership fiercely felt his inadequacy, often simply letting his wife be the spokesperson for both of them. Nevertheless, not willing to completely surrender his rights, in small but conspicuous ways Henry drew attention to his own uniqueness: a greased down hair style, borrowed from a by-gone age and parted with great insistence down the middle of his wide head. He also had a tendency towards histrionic gestures, especially when the subject related to eating.

Amidst trivial and conventional chattering and the removing of coats, in time participants would take their places, always the same places. Like school children, month in and month out they gravitated towards the identical seat, as if to do otherwise might prompt a swift and strict reprimand from the teacher.

The living room was well suited to a gathering like this one. A minimalist attitude towards furnishings meant that one never felt cramped and restricted. The couple put most of its creative energies into what they hung on their walls and not what encumbered the floor. Theirs was a small art gallery. They were not, to be sure, in a financial position to own anything auctioned off at Sotheby’s, but as Arthur early on pointed