Here are Roman and a couple of his friends who dropped by the Samovar. They're sitting in Joseph Brodsky's designated memorial corner. From left to right: Philip Roth, Mark Strand and Roman. Behind Roman is a framed poster of a couple of lines of Brodsky's poetry that at one time adorned the interior of New York City subway cars. The lines read, "Sir, you are tough and I am tough, / but who will write whose epitaph?" Food for thought. But tastier would be a plate of herring and onions, which I am pretty sure Roth ordered (Strand astutely chose the excellent borsht). The Samovar's herring transports Roth back to his Newark, New Jersey middle-class Jewish neighborhood, the only way to get there now except by writing fiction. If you are longing for herring, order some at the Samovar. I have a herring disorder, and even I love it!
finally!
ReplyDeleteI go to the Samovar like people go home. When the music starts there is nothing left but to dance. Some days I do. Those days are the best.
You can not go there often. You must experience it as new every time.
But go there. There is no place like it.
Especially if you are me.
: )
Spasibo, Margo
... and here is to herring with boiled potatoes!
ReplyDeletewith love
Yefrem
Couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks, Yefrem.
ReplyDelete