"A Skillful First Novel"

In preparing for last night's discussion of David Leavitt's first novel, The Lost Language of Cranes, I was curious about what book reviewers said about it 35 years ago. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt's review in the Sept. 11, 1986, New York Times is insightful in some ways and maddeningly obtuse in others. Here's his final paragraph: "The cumulative effect of [its] flaws finally keeps this novel from taking flight. But it's not its subject that limits it, as far as I can see. And this in itself is a small revelation, and suggests that Mr. Leavitt's future may be one worth watching." That, at least, Mr. Lehmann-Haupt got right.