Browsing through Amazon.com I found mention of a novel called 'Gerontius'
by James Hamilton-Paterson, with the following review:

   "In this delightful novel, which won a Whitbread Prize in 1989, James
   Hamilton-Paterson joins celebrated British composer Edward Elgar on
   a cruise on the Amazon River and imagines what artists of the time
   may have pondered.  "Oh Edward what a stupid doltish ass you've been
   to waste your life on the idea that art--in its small way--can make
   the least difference to things," he imagines Elgar as commenting.
   The book isn't merely a collection of questioning ruminations; the
   cruise is filled with a variety of comical and interesting passengers
   and crew members."

Our regular San Francisco reviewer Janos Gereben might find this comment
interesting:

   "A poignant and wonderfully clear-sighted relflection on the
   psychological rewards and pitfalls of the artistic life."
     -- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

It intrigues me.  Has anyone on the List read it, and if so, do they have
any comments?

Scott Morrison