ANOTHER NOVEMBER

paper 0-8032-7072-0 Another November ($40.00; $12.00; Oct. 15; 96 pp.; 0-8032-2172-X; paper 0-8032-7072-0): This accomplished recit, first published in 1986, skillfully juxtaposes its unnamed narrator’s history of personal and sexual failures and disillusionments against his memories of youthful friendship with an “obese,” spoiled rich boy (Charles Merlin) who would disgrace himself—and corrupt those in his orbit—by collaborating with the Nazis. Grenier a former protÇgÇ and literary associate of Albert Camus) blends romantic melancholy, moving moral complexity, and provocative symbolism (especially in the vivid figure of a “Pierrot Noir” that dominates a local fair) into a concise and haunting study of the ambiguities of several different kinds of commitment and courage. One hopes more of Grenier’s fiction will soon be translated.