Letters to His Neighbor

<p>Marcel Proust's genius for illuminating pain is on spectacular display in this recently discovered trove of his correspondence, <em>Letters to His Neighbor</em>. Already suffering from noise within his cork-lined walls, Proust's poor soul was not ready for the fresh hell of his new upstairs neighbor, Dr. Williams, a dentist with a thriving practice directly above his head.</p><p>Chiefly to Mme Williams, these ever-polite letters (often accompanied by flowers, books, or compliments) are frequently hilarious—Proust couches his pained frustration in gracious eloquence. In Lydia Davis’s hands, the digressive brilliance of his sentences shines: “Don’t speak of annoying neighbors, but of neighbors so charming (an association of words contradictory in principle since Montesquiou claims that most horrible of all are 1: neighbors and 2: the smell of post offices) that they leave the constant tantalizing regret that one cannot take advantage of their neighborliness.” Richly illustrated with facsimile letters and photographs, <em>Letters to His Neighbor</em> is catnip for lovers of Proust.</p>