Obsessions

PROUST'S OVERCOAT by Lorenza Foschina, (Eric Karleles, translator)Harper Collins, 978-0-06-196567-8, is so short it is perhaps better described as an over long essay. Yet, it covers its subject with clarity, humor and intelligence as well as grace.  Which is rather extraordinary when the subject is one man's obsession with all things Proust.  The book had its inception when the author was on an interview about a television program and talked to a gentleman who had planned at one time to do a movie on Proust.  He mentioned an interview with a man who was an avid collector of all things Proust.  The collector was Jacques Guerin, a perfume magnate in France.  This is his story as well as that of Proust.  Proust's life was as strange as he.  He was at odds with his brother and sister in law, had strange habits, was always cold. wrote in bed, and always was seen in a black overcoat.  Guerin had Proust';s brother as his surgeon and became even more obsessed with collecting Proust artifacts.  Guerin's bedroom was entirely made up of thins that had belonged to Proust.  He haunted dealers hunting for books and other objects that Proust had used.  Eventually he found the overcoat that Proust had worn all his .  It was sacred to him.  The slim volume is packed with facts about Proust and his eccentric life as well as his family problems.  The book is a gem of a read.  Enjoy.