The Village Idiot

by Steve Stern

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2022

"A frothy picaresque that ... vibrates to the “sweet celestial confusion” of Soutine’s delirious and earthy, reverent and irreligious." -- The New York Times Book Review

A wild, effervescent, absinthe-soaked novel that tells of the life of the extraordinary artist Chaim Soutine

Steve Stern’s astonishing new novel The Village Idiot begins on a glorious spring day in Paris 1917. Amid the carnage of World War I, some of the foremost artists of the age have chosen to stage a boat race.  At the head of the regatta is Amedeo Modigliani, seated regally in a bathtub pulled by a flock of canvasback ducks.  But unbeknownst to the competition, he has a secret his young friend, the immigrant painter Chaim Soutine, is hauling the tub from underwater.  Soutine, an unwashed, misfit artist (who incidentally can’t swim) has been persuaded by the Italian to don a ponderous diving suit and trudge along the floor of the river Seine.  Disoriented and confused by the artificial air in his helmet Chaim stumbles through the events of his past and future life.
 
It’s quite an extraordinary life.  From his impoverished beginnings in an East European shtetl to his equally destitute days in Paris during the Années Folles, the Crazy Years, from the Cinderella patronage of the American collector Albert Barnes, who raises him from poverty to international attention, to his perilous flight from the Nazi occupation of France, Chaim Soutine remains driven by his unrelenting passion to paint. 
 
To be sure, there are notable distractions, such as his unlikely friendship with Modigliani, who drags him from brothels to midnight felonies to a duel at dawn; there are the romances with remarkable women who compete with and sometimes salvage his obsession. But there is also, always on the horizon, the coming storm that threatens to sweep away Chaim and a generation of gifted Jewish refugees from a tradition that would outlaw their longing to make art.
 
Wildly inventive, as funny as it is heart-breaking, The Village Idiot is a luminous fever-dream of a novel, steeped in the heady atmosphere of a Paris that was the cultural capital of the universe, a place where anything seemed possible.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Jewish, France, Historical

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2022

About the author

Stern was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1947, the son of a grocer. He left Memphis in the 1960s to attend college, then to travel the US and Europe — living, as he told one interviewer, "the wayward life of my generation for about a decade," and ending on a hippie commune in the Ozarks. He went on to study writing in the graduate program at the University of Arkansas, at a time when it included several notable writers who've since become prominent, including poet C.D. Wright and fiction writers Ellen Gilchrist, Lewis Nordan, Lee K. Abbott and Jack Butler.

Stern subsequently moved to London, England, before returning to Memphis in his thirties to accept a job at a local folklore center. There he learned about the city's old Jewish ghetto, The Pinch, and began to steep himself in Yiddish folklore. He published his first book, the story collection Isaac and the Undertaker's Daughter, which was based in The Pinch, in 1983. It won the Pushcart Writers' Choice Award and acclaim from some notable critics, including Susan Sontag, who praised the book's "brio ... whiplash sentences ... energy and charm," and observed that "Steve Stern may be a late practitioner of the genre [Yiddish folklore], but he is an expert one."

By decade's end Stern had won the O. Henry Award, two Pushcart Prize awards, published more collections, including Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven (which won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish American Fiction) and the novel Harry Kaplan's Adventures Underground, and was being hailed by critics such as Cynthia Ozick as the successor to Isaac Bashevis Singer. Stern's 2000 collection The Wedding Jester won the National Jewish Book Award, and his novel The Angel of Forgetfulness was named one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post.

Stern, who teaches at Skidmore College, has also won some notable scholarly awards, including fellowships from the Fulbright and the Guggenheim foundations. He currently lives in Ballston Spa, New York, and his latest work, the novel The Frozen Rabbi, was published in 2010.

Reviews

[Constantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction

The story is set in Paris in 1917 during World War I. It involves the life of a group of artists. One of them is Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian painter, and sculptor who is famous for his modern portrait style that was not well received back then. He makes a friendship with Chaim Soutine, an immigrant painter. And this friendship affects the Italian painter throughout the different stages of his life.

Along with French and Jewish cultures, the book explores many aspects of that era's culture. You'll discover as you read that the story's cultural element is crucial. This is significant, especially considering the era in which the novel is set. Whether they are significant historical events or well-known artists and musicians, the author incorporates many more aspects of that period in the story. They all work in unison with one another and along with the lives of the central protagonists to expand the scope of the narrative.

The writing style was the largest challenge I personally encountered when reading the book. There is nothing wrong with it, but I find it to be overly dense for my taste. I occasionally had the impression that I was reading one of those tough classics. The story's plodding pace made reading a little challenging. The author is obviously talented and made thorough research for his book. I do believe that there are readers out there who will enjoy the book more than I did. Regardless of what people in his day thought of him and his art, Modigliani was a talented artist, thus I'm still delighted that I've read about him.

Many thanks to the publisher Melville House Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

[camryn]

**Recieved an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the opportunity NetGalley and Melville House!**

DNF @30%. I wasn't much of a fan of many of the characters of the book besides one. I don't wish to include any spoilers, simply because the book hasn't been released quite yet, but there was nothing that kept me reading. Unfortunately, the prose didn't work for me, though I can recognize Stern's ability and handle on the craft.

There were also some unnecessary moments of racist language. The book didn't have much to do with anti-Blackness, so a lot of these instances just took me out of the reading experience and were unpleasant to read as well.

I think that I also went into this book expecting a different plot and that I simply wasn't the intended audience. I wanted to like this book a lot, based on the summary and also the really artistic cover (huge fan of the design honestly), but I just was not impressed.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much is known about the painter Chaim Soutine, as the curmudgeon refused to personally dish with even the rare few who got close enough to peer into his cracked eggshell. Steve Stern had to take some liberties here, but pulls from his vast knowledge of Jewish lore to connect the art-history-dots with his trademark fantastical style. It's uplifty, downtroddy, and sadly whimsy-bodied.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fictional account of artist Chaim Soutine's life is as chaotic, dark, and expansive as his paintings. While the star of this book was its descriptions of turn-of-the-century France and the characters who populated it, the book ventures far beyond this narrative, incorporating Jewish folklore and surrealist monologues in a completely unexpected way. Rather than being strictly chronological, the narrative centers around Chaim's near-death experience and his friendship with Amedeo Modigliani, both of which make interesting literary devices.

The pacing of this book, however, is sometimes agonizingly slow. Even though the language was complex and engaging, I never found myself excited to pick up this book. The narrative often treats stages of his life as their own independent scenes, which was frustrating when trying to piece together Chaim's character development. Because he lashes out and isolates himself from people who question his habits, we never see these interactions and choices weigh on him for significant periods of time. I came close to giving up on this book in the middle, but the emotional gravity of the last chapter made me happy I finished it.

Thank you NetGalley and Melville House Publishing for giving me a copy in exchange for my review!

[Angela]

Yep. Devoured this. Not just because of the story (but I mean, come on! The story was great!) but because Stern has a way with words I've not come across in a while. I felt like I was reading a classic. But one that could push the boundaries in ways a traditional classic could not. I don't think this is for everyone. In fact, I can safely say it's not for everyone. But, I found it refreshing. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go spend some time looking at Chaim Soutine's work.

[Alice Rickless · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaim Soutine is an interesting character and real life man. But this book just didn’t capture it well, it rambled on in places where it didn’t need to and didn’t talk enough about his actual art.

Not sure I would recommend it as it did feel like a bit of a slog to finish but I am glad I picked it up all the same.

[Susan]

Did not finish. I felt my vocabulary and limited knowledge about artists of the period restricted my ability to enjoy this book.

The author uses many French and Yiddish words/phrases, most of which are unfamiliar to me. Another reviewer compared it to a tough-to-read classic. You know it’s valuable and has a lot to offer but you struggle to understand what the author is trying to communicate and just can’t get through it.

There were several situations the author effectively communicated regarding Soutine’s background and upbringing, and his relationship with some of the other artists which I appreciated and I wish I had been able to relish the entire novel as I’m fascinated by the history of the art community in Paris. But I just struggled too much to take pleasure in reading this book.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up in a neighborhood Little Free Library and was drawn in by the Modigliani portrait on the cover. I gave it 100 pages and realized I was dreading picking it back up to finish.

The writing is fine, but the story is painful. Chaim Soutine's life was full of pathos. Even as his art (much of it nightmarish) gained attention and he became more successful, he was plagued with a bleeding ulcer, crippling self-loathing, questionable "friends" and even more questionable life choices. The genius/madness phenomenon is on full display here.

The book is at its best describing Paris at that particular time in history. Maybe at another time, I would be in a different frame of mind for reading it. Art pun not intended.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not find this book to be an enjoyable read, particularly because it jumped around so much and used a lot of ethnic terms that I am just not familiar with. I am sure there is an audience for this book, but I'm just not in it. {H}

[Herb Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Stern is known as a magical realist, his themes drawn from the trove of Eastern European Jewish folklore he discovered in researching the immigrant Jews of his native Memphis. In The Village Idiot, Stern has found a new use for this vein of fabulation. The difference between this and all of Stern’s previous work is that the magical realism is not the driving force of the novel, but only a means to a very poignant end: illuminating the life and career of Chaim Soutine, ferocious painter extraordinaire, as a Lithuanian Jewish refugee in Paris among other avant-garde artists, most notably his friend Amadeo Modigliani (with cameos by various Dadaists and Surrealists) in the decades between the first and second world wars. The historical underpinning of the novel is the chaos and displacement generated by World War I, the cultural fireworks of the Parisian art scene during their roaring twenties and the gradual plunging of the world into the insanity of fascism and antisemitism leading to the vicious murder of most of Europe’sJews. Anyone who has seen one of Soutine’s vivid paintings of animal carcasses will not be surprised to discover that the painter had a tortured inner life, which Stern ably uses as a vehicle to carry the weight of this heavy historical arc. Stern renders the artist’s burdened psyche through the projected male and female devils, the shedim who haunt his imagination and sexuality. The novel’s second metaphor for the painter’s unconscious is an underwater idyll that serves as a lyrical refrain through the narrative, each time taking us down to a layer of consciousness that promotes imaginative time travel and access to the unconscious. It is in this context that Stern comes up with the incomparable expression, “the aquatic tzaddik.” What lover of words could fail to fall in love with a writer and a book that can make such an expression credible?

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While initially confused when I first considered reading The Village Idiot due its cover—a painting by Amedeo Modigliani, it turned out to be a highly enjoyable read about the artist Chaim Soutine — friend of Modigliani and subject of the portrait on the book’s cover (Chaim Soutine, 1916). Soutine is not nearly as well known as Modigliani, but after I explored Soutine’s works online I find myself preferring Soutine’s works. I admit my preference is influenced by how Stern characterizes Soutine, who comes across as a talented, socially awkward, paranoid, albeit charming artist, who seems to bumble along in life. He seems more of a follower than a leader, except in his art.

The genre is historical fiction and set in France between 1915 and 1944. Stern tells the story of the vibrant arts scene in Paris through the lens of Soutine, who at the start of the story, is as an unknown expressionist painter, part of the artists’ group known as the School of Paris. His career is launched in 1922 when he meets Dr. Albert Barnes, the American art collector, who buys up most of Soutine’s paintings for a song.

Much of the book describes Soutine’s relationships with friends, lovers, and clients, many who, despite his outlandish behaviors and bad manners, protect him from the Nazis and support him up to and during WW II.

Stern writes with wit, charm and humour. At times, I felt Stern’s abstract writing created a barrier that prevented me from feeling close to the story but some passages were so beautifully written I forgave him. One of my favorites:

He [Soutine] paints a breeze like a bridal veil wreathing a steeple. But the breeze under his rapid stroke increases in velocity, becoming a whirlwind that threatens to sweep up the town and uproot it from its aerial approach perch above the sea. In its turbulence the spinning environment strips the colors of their residual drabness to reveal the shrillest of aniline blues underneath, the cadmium reds that can stop Chaim’s heart (page 51).

The Village Idiot is a gem.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaim Soutine is the shtot meshugenah, the village idiot. In Steve Stern's The Village Idiot, Soutine's self-assessment as such is questioned and his contributions to the art world is plumbed, trying to salvage Soutine from the forgotten pile and placed alongside his better-known contemporaries (even the ones whose art he didn't like). Chaim Soutine was born in a shtetl and his need to draw and paint got him into deep trouble in his very religious community. After studying for a bit in Vilna, he makes his way to Paris, where he is befriended by Amedeo Modigliani, whose belief in his art eventually leads to have his name recognized and his art sold. Despite Soutine's distrust and disavowal of bathing, basic hygiene and etiquette, and keeping decaying carcasses in his ateliers for his still lifes, and his propensity for destroying his own canvases, Soutine's way with color and form has him become majorly associate with the School of Paris. In one metaphysical adventure, as Soutine walks along the bottom of the Seine, he is presented with his past and his future, mixed in with the Jewish folklore he has avowed but cannot escape, leading up to his death from a perforated ulcer during the Nazi occupation of France. From cradle to grave Stern presents Soutine's life in a mixer, allowing thematic connections, but with the jumping around, Soutine himself remains distant, a collection of how others see him and his quirks. He may not have been the actual village idiot, but his art and his otherness kept him apart, even when the door was being held wide open for him. There's a bit of a shtot meshugenah in that.

[Stuart]

(copy received via goodreads giveaway)

DNF

I really did my best with this one, but I got 120 pages in and just was not engaged at all, so I decided to call it quits. There is probably more here for readers who are both familiar with (and fans of) the Paris art scene of the first few decades of the 20th century, and who enjoy nonlinear storytelling with the framing device of a single event. I can't say I am either, and the author makes very little in the way of introductions here, which makes these people-as-characters pretty inaccessible to anyone not familiar. I also just did not care for the structure. There is a single event, Chaim in a diving suit towing Modigliani in a bathtub through the Seine for some ridiculously whimsical race the artists have devised. As we hop around Chaim's life (somewhat but not entirely linearly) we come back to him on the bed of the river, trudging forward. But the problem with this is so much of the book happens after this event; if we are using this event as the jumping-off point of Chaim's contemplation of his life, how is he thinking of things in the future? And if that is not what this event is meant as, then why is it the framework of the novel? I just didn't get it, and felt lost.

Stern's praise is fluid and lyrical, and it carries you along on a current. That's nice, anyway. The chapters are infuriatingly long, and I just couldn't keep track of the timeline, the people, and ultimately, why I was trying.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical novel about Chaim Soutine, an Expressionist artist of the early 20th century. He had fled his Russian Jewish village where he was persona non grata for painting images of people. Became an unwashed, rancid, rude, starving artist in Paris where fellow tenants complained of the smell of the dead animals he loved to paint. His BFF was Amadeo Modigliani, a bombastic, alcoholic, drug-addled, sex-addicted, tubercular fellow artist. I was familiar with Modigliani, but not Soutine, so I looked up his paintings. Some I liked; others not so much (his most famous paintings of side of beef were rather dreadful). The book's descriptions of life for Jews in Paris during WWI were quite vivid. The book jumped around in time, often coming back to the same event it started and ended with, where Modigliani convinced Soutine to don a deep sea-diving suit and pull his boat, that was ostensibly being pulled by ducks on the surface, down the Seine, so Modigliani could win a boat race.

[Greg S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fictionalised account of the Expressionist painter Chaim Soutine. My favourite parts of this novel were in the descriptions of Chaim creating some of his most famous paintings, especially Carcass of Beef with the stench of rotting meat sending neighbours to the police.

Early on, I really enjoyed the rich descriptions of the artistic community in early 20th century Paris. As the book went along I found the dense writing style became a bit laborious. It was not a novel that I couldn’t wait to pick up again and it often took me a good few pages to get back into reading it. But this book is a lovingly written portrait of an incredible artist with a fascinating and sad life.

[Rosann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by the life of artist Chaim Soutine, author Steve Stern constructs a snapshot of troubled, and troubling Paris during World War I. Soutine is alternately floating along in the wake of his friend/mentor, artist Modigliani, or possessed by his feverish painting. He is obsessed by his need to break from his past, and the need to be controlled by it. Woven throughout are Jewish cultural touchstones, religion and Russo mythology. This is an historic figure about which little is actually known, a difficult fictional figure to follow.

[Susan Ritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never been a big fan of Soutine’s almost gruesome art, but this novel of his life drew me right in to the strange life of an artist who defied all convention. I liked learning about the Paris School and the Jewish diaspora between the wars in France. Stern has done a great job creating a character who was both repellant and endearing at the same time. Humor, pathos, and a great grasp of historic detail.

[Mark Robertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

That’s not a real finish date as I didn’t finish this book. I got almost halfway through it, but I wasn’t enjoying it at all. The timeline keeps shifting, Stern threw in words and language I don’t know, his style is, I felt, overly wordy and the main character is very difficult to relate to. Chaim Soutine seems to have been a somewhat crazy genius, one I wouldn’t want to spend time with. Other readers clearly feel differently than I, but this was really not my cup of tea.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steven Stern paints a portrait of the artist Chaim Soutine's life in The Village Idiot. The story starts and cleverly weaves a 1917 Paris boat race through out the novel. I liked the odd friendship of Chaim's with fellow artist Amedeo Modigliani. Unfortunately I really disliked Chaim the more I read of him and struggled to finish the book.

[Jo Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing story of the life of Chaime Soutine artist active first half 20 th century in France. Born in a shtetl in Byeorussia. Painting possessed him. Produced wild paintings. Lived Ceret for a while. The book is interesting but at times slow. The ending of course is sad as he dies from ulcerative colitis at 49 in midst of Second World War. Has had to be on the run to escape deportation.

[Kelsey Weekman]

The writing is stunning in this book, but I wanted more information about the MC, and I didn't find the plot compelling. Really interesting touches from Jewish and Russian cultures in Paris during WWII.

[Leslie kuris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint hearted- you need some knowledge of Yiddish, French, Shtetl orthodox culture, art, artists- at times I found it overwhelming even though I have some knowledge of all these things. It’s a challenge. 4 stars for writing and complexity.

[harold horowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific read

Fascinating novel weaving in French society, the Parisian art world, and French participation in WWII in particular. Although a novel, many of the personalities of characters drawn from real life.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a little while to find its feet but the last 150 pages read like 30. If you live Soutine, France, and art this is an amazing book.

[Boweavil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Stupendous. Breathtaking. Sad. Silly and wonderful.
Have always loved Steve Stern's work and this is one of his masterpieces.

[Emily Bonnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could barely put this down! Paints a strong picture of the art scene in Paris throughout the first half of the 20th century, weaved in with strong imagery from Jewish mythology. Such a fun read!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned by reading this sad story.

[Andy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not easy to read and comprehend. I finished it out of spite

[Barry Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stern is first and foremost a great storyteller. Like I.B. Singer, he is as comfortable in the shtetl as he is in the modern world, and his ability to weave the two together with a healthy dose of mysticism is impressive.

I was hanging on every word. Highly recommended.