Meet Max Jacob

I must confess that even after 20 years as a proud BookMen member, there are still many lacunae in my literary knowledge. One of them is the subject of a new, critically acclaimed biography, Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters, by Rosanna Warren. Though highly accomplished, the French poet (1876-1944) had three strikes against him his whole life: he was from the provinces, Jewish (though he converted to Catholicism) and gay. Here are reviews of Warren's book from the Washington Post and New York Times. I obviously haven't read it yet, but it sure sounds like a good candidate for our next reading list.