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227
littérature
715
STEINBECK JOHN (1902-1968)
Lettre autographe signée adressée
à Robert WALLSTON
[Salerne], « Good Friday » [20 avril 1962], 5 pages in-4
à l’encre sur papier jonquille réglé, enveloppe conservée.
7 000 / 8 000 €
Cette année-là où il reçut le Prix Nobel de Littérature. Steinbeck écrit
une très longue lettre relative à son voyage en Italie à Robert Wallston
à New York, ami de ce dernier qui collaborera avec la troisième femme
de Steinbeck, Elaine – dont il est question dans la lettre – à l’ouvrage
Steinbeck : A Life in Letters
publié à New York en 1984.
« [...] arrived by boat from Capri [...] the whole family is famished for
Lotuses or is it Loti. Seems to be a good lotus crop here complete
with Bongo drums [...] Tonight [...] they are going to bless the boats,
the tourists and next year’s budget and maybe a little will splash off
on us. Robert, I thought, told you [...] never to show unfinished mss
to an amateur. Everyone is a writer and all will help. The less they
know the more they will help [...] ».
« You stupid son of a bitch [...] I don’t tell you how to try a case
[...] Your little Queen of the May [...] hereafter known as G. M. [...] If she
wanted fiction she should have employed Dick Nixon’s ghost writer
[...] Dahling - the most wonderful thing has happened and it’s all due
to your greatness. [...] They are now the property of the nation [...] ».
« That is your speech [...] my observation is [...] she hasn’t any idea
what she said on those tapes [...]. Now that is your first bomb. The
second is a kind of mutual germ warfare. Little Muddy can press the
button on that. […] If I had known I’d have to spend all my time filing
letters I wouldn’t have let Robert take this job [...]. »
Steinbeck continue : « Now, the third small bomb I can drop. I will
write you a terse letter on my letter head saying [...] My first thought
is that pp. 170-286 should not be printed [...] will Knopf feel the same.
After all, they want to sell books [...]. »
« Italy makes the best ball point pens in the world [...] Now it is the
day after Easter [...] La Vita got pretty Dolce. The gay Roman play
boys came down with their fashion models [...] The play boys now
look their age and the models re showing the results of their normal
malnutrition. Elaine and I avoided the Dolce Vita. We just got drunk
and laid [...] Two aspirins and a bloody Mary and we were pawing
the earth again. Next Thursday we are taking [a] ship [...] for Athens [...]
I can neither spell nor pronounce it. It is a cottage hotel on a beach
15 minutes from Athens. We straggle from beach to beach. I have
been made an honorary Stranger of Positano [...] This morning on
our breakfast tray there was a list of 20 questions for a magazine.
My favorite was -’What would be your feeling if a street in Positano
were named for you?’ My answer was, ‹I would find it flattering but
ridiculous’ [...] it’s just as well we are leaving Thursday [...] ».