Holden Caulfield was right, America is full of phonies. More of them infest the literary jungle than any other part of our society. When a writer wants to tell a trivial story he has to do it in style. Sometimes his style is original. More often it is copied from a fashionable giant, say Joyce or Kafka. Rafts and rafts of phony novels by unknown writers come floating down the literary waters. (p. 96)
Edmund White's "Forgetting Elena" is a typical pastiche. Interesting at first, it dawdles off into gibberish and pseudo-sophistication. Before it ends, however, there is a blaze of stylish glory. Undoubtedly the best writing is in the last chapter. Read the beginning and the end of "Forgetting Elena" and you will have sampled the best it has to offer. Concerned with pretentious conversation, it tries to make Fire Island seem like a fascinating place. Replete with sex, it pulls out all the in stops of today's writing. Tomorrow it will be forgotten, piled on a heap of discarded novels…. This is a simple novel told in a complex way. If you like solving cross word puzzles you might enjoy White's book. If you are looking for something worthwhile to read, skip it. (pp. 96, 99)
William R. Evans, in a review of "Forgetting Elena," in Best Sellers (copyright 1973, by the University of Scranton), Vol. 33, No. 4, May 15, 1973, pp. 96, 99.
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