BILL SAROYAN \ Ne Very little of the boyhood of William Saroyan, or, for that matter, of William Saroyan himself, is known to the people of Fresno, save among Saroyan’s relatives. But in view of the fact that a good part of the population of Fresno consists of Saroyan’s relatives, and that Saroyan has somewhat grudgingly written nine or ten books:about his boyhood, the mystery is slowly clearing. A glance at the Fresno telephone directory will show five or six families bearing the Saroyan name. Call any of these people, and they will answer, “Villie ees een San Fransisk.” Al Bez- zerides, another Armenian and childhood friend of the Fresno Flash, recalls that ‘Willie was the usual brand of Fresno hellion, addicted to poolhalls and coming home late at night. To this day these bad habits still flourish, with night clubs thrown in. Saroyan, of course, is an American. His boyhood was that of an American boy. But he was also an Armenian. ‘To be the son of Armenian parents is an old custom, lustily practised. But to be the son of Armenian parents and spend your boyhood in Fresno has been and still is considerably annoying. The Armenian is a remarkable farmer: his peaches are fatter, his grapes heavier; he can produce figs where once only Johnson grass grew; his olives are as round as walnuts, and his apricots as big as peaches. He is a superior farmer, and his crop is envied. In the San Joaquin Valley this envy sometimes gets out of hand, and the Armenian finds him- self scorned because his skin is a bit dark 64 JOHN FANTE and his nose is long. If the Armenian ig4 remarkable farmer, he is an even more markable trader. ‘The folklore arouj Fresno has it that it takes two Jews outsmart a Greek, and one Armenian make fools of all three. But the sons of Armenians must go school, and sometimes Armenians are v poor. Saroyan’s people were. Fo be po is bad enough; to be a poor Armenian worse. Saroyan’s childhood was so happy it has taken nine books for hing. to vindicate that period of his life. P haps it will take more. For he is obs with his childhood. It is grudge-writi but it is American and not Armenia grudge-writing. But more important, it j beautiful writing, lyrical to the last com and semicolon. It is the little Armenia American boy shricking, singing, cryi laughing, somersaulting, demanding to heard. He is talented to the degrce th: he was sensitive to scorn as a boy; ai Saroyan is remarkably talented. Saroyan’s nose, which he proudly gards as Armenian, is not as enormous he imagines. He casts slurring referenc at his proboscis at least twice every hour He does so with a light touch, amu: about it, immediately reserving that pl sure for himself alone. He is extremely modest. After his seo} ond book of short stories, a variation af his first book of short stories, he dragg me all over Los Angeles to bookstores, bi and small. His excuse was a telegram fi his publishers asking him to autograph hi works. At those stores where booksellenBILL SAROYAN JOHN FANTE Vent little i the boyhood of William and (§igHOSeaSiTONgDIF the Armenian i Soren or, 7 that matin of Wiliam remarkable farmer, he is an even more , is known to the people markable (trader, #The_f of Fresno, save among Saroyan’s relatives. Fresno has it that roe ea t But in view of the fact that a good part of the population of Fresno. consists of Satoyan’s relatives, and that Saroyan has somewhat grudgingly written nine or ten books about his boyhood, the mystery is slowly clearing. A glance at the Fresno telephone directory will show five or six families bearing the Saroyan name. Call any of these people, and they will answer, “Villie ees een San Fransisk.” Al Bez- zerides, another Armenian and childhood friend of the Fresno Flash, recalls that outsmart a Greek, and one Armenian ts make fools of all three. But the sons of Armenians must go ts school, and sometimes Armenians are ver} POOH|Saroyan’s people were. To be poo is bad enough; tO)be alpoor Amienian worse. Saroyan’s childhood was so un happy it has taken nine books for hin to vindicate that period of his life. Pe: haps it will take more. For he is obsessed with his childhood. It is grudge-writing but it is American and not Armenian Willie was the usual brand of Fresni iti I 10 grudge-writing. But more important, it hellion, addicted to poolhalls and coming Béaiitifil writing, Fee home late at night. To this day tl i i ee ae herd aves bad gand semicolon. Jt is the little Armenian | habits st ht clubs Amer boy Ghiking, Sogiog, cine | eae Cone AREA, Tis ear, Fie is tented othe degree Et But he was also an Armenian, - Sacjan cen ee | apenas Spam hich he aly son of Armenian pat nd spend a gees alee nee res cose Soh meni He dass so with sight mace farmer: his peac it, i i i t =o ee oe oa ae a as ants ad hi ond bok ce ae A eel jolie Gc inte ay maison wha : : all. His excuse was a telegram from + ea aay Sega ome 64 i 7a had already shelved his first book, he in- gsted that copies be resuscitated. Dusty snd unsalable, they were brought forth nd piled in big stacks before him. In no time at all (Saroyan has a full voice) eople in the stores got wind of the fact that the daring young man with the hat cocked at an angle sitting at the desk flay- ing a fountain pen was none other than William Saroyan, for he kept saying so himself. Besides, the photograph on the jacket of his second book happened to ook exactly like the young man at the desk, even to the self-same hat, worn at the same angle. In this connection it is important to add that it is almost impossible to find an unautographed copy of William Saro- yan's books in existence. Frank Fenton of Hollywood once wagered the price of a Saroyan book that this was a sheer im- possibility. Such a wager is a particularly good one in New York City and up and down the west coast. Undoubtedly there are out-of-the-way towns where this condi- tion does not exist, but it must also be said that with the success of his plays Saroyan is richer now and able to traverse the hinterlands with the thoroughness of a politician seeking office. Time will come when collectors will be bidding for un- signed copies of Saroyan works. Tt must not be forgotten, however, that ‘William Saroyan has given away as much material as"he has sold. He will write al- most anything at any time for anyone, and you will come with considerable surprise upon his writings in poultry, garment- trade, and aircraft journals, “little” maga- zines, and pamphlets. This catholicism of publication has nothing to do with the mere desire to break into print. Rather, it is a tremendous generosity, an unstinting desire to please. The debt-ridden, harassed. editor, trembling at deadline, always turns to Saroyan, and he always delivers and, more often than not, is not paid for it. BILL SAROYAN, ‘Ask Saroyan to define his credo and he will answer: “I am a Democrat, a Repub- lican, a Communist, a Fascist, and so forth and so on.” But at once it must be added that Saro- yan is one of the most intact writers in ‘America. He bristles with principle; his integrity is unassailable. Max Wilkinson ‘of Collier’s once told me the following story to illustrate this solidity. One day Saroyan, looking very seedy, tuned up at the Crowell offices in New York with a manuscript under his arm. The staff read the story, found it hilariously funny, agreed that it was wonderfully written, de- cided that all it needed was a slight change at the end. It was a simple matter of re- typing the last page—five minutes work. Saroyan refused; if they thought it a funny story, if they had all laughed at it, if it was wonderfully written, why did they want it changed? Wilkinson regarded Saroyan’s attitude as “silly.” Tt would be difficult to appraise his reaction had he Known that immediately after leaving the Crowell offices, Saroyan had to borrow money to return to California. Bill is somewhat over medium height, solidly muscled, well-tailored in the con- servative fashion of gamblers and gang- sters, and is usually taken for an Italian. Indeed, as a boy in Fresno, most of his friends were Italians. Many of his short stories are about Italians, told in the first person like his stories of Armenians. But whether he writes about Italians or Arme- nians, in essence these stories are always about William Saroyan, a phenomenon as thoroughly American as jitterbugs and apple pie. ‘An Italian quality in Saroyant’s charac- ter is his bravado, his aggressiveness. But this bravado is something like the Italians at Caporetto and Guadalajara. Four or five years ago, for example, Saroyan an- nounced in the pages of Esquire that he could at will write a Hemingway story bet- 65COMMON GROUND ter than Ernest Hemingway. In answer, Hemingway in effect challenged Saroyan to a fist fight and added that what the Fresno punk needed was a good punch in the nose. This reply amused Saroyan; but since then he has not repeated that Esquire performance, and a good many years have passed since he announced that he is a better writer than So-and-So. To know Saroyan well is to discover that he is inordinately shy about his work and extremely inept at articulating any estimate of himself from the perspective of a literary artist. In his gay, deep voice he will finally admit that at least two dozen of his short stories are timeless and will be read forever; but an inner reserve, a pro- found shyness, makes it almost impossible for him to enumerate which of his many stories should be included in the immortal two dozen. Hour after hour he will hedge modestly, until it is apparent the problem is much too close to him. Finally, with characteristic humility, he defers the selec- tion to the generations to come. Saroyan loves everything: bugs, beetles, twigs, flies, women, liquor, himself, the world, flowers, fish, mankind, babies, cuties, old fruit, the hills, sour cream, shirts, Russia, Finland, France, Fresno, Saroyan, children, good and evil, Saroyan, the poor, the rich, the theatre, Holly- wood, Saroyan, marble games, the under- dog, the Italians, the Armenians, Saro- yan... His mood never changes: he is inex- haustible. He never stops talking he laughs a great deal; he drinks occasionally, but not to excess; he smokes incessantly; he walks at a breakneck pace; he knows everybody in America by first name; he befriends everybody who approaches him; he spends money lavishly and unselfishly. anyone who needs it can borrow from hin anyone who doesn’t need it can get it, toy Only intolerance can shake the laughter from his voice and whiten his dark face He would give his life for the cause of justice and fair play; it is a passion you sense in him. Undoubtedly he would pre. fer to make this supreme sacrifice in the presence of a lot of people—but that’s Saroyan, His refusal of the Pulitzer Award last spring was no mere gesture, not a pub- licity stunt. He worked bitterly hard for his success; he did it alone, He broke the precedent of somber stuffiness and self. importance attached to the prize. He re- fused it because it was nonsense. He refused it because he knew that in the history of the Pulitzer Award it was not always the best play that won it, But I can recall another prize award he rejected. It was not heralded as the Pulit- s zer episode, but he tured it down for ; the same reasons. That time one of his short stories was selected as an endow- ment award. He needed the money (Bill always needs money), but he turned the cash prize over to the editors of one of the so-called quality magazines, requesting them to award it to writers whose stories were almost, but not quite suitable to their needs, Because, as he put it, many times he too had written that kind of a story... John Fante is an Italian American writer whose last book, Dago Red, appeared early in the autumn. He is also the author of Wait Until Spring, Bandini and Ask the Dust. | | ? | | HE NEW NATIONALITY CODE MARIAN SCHIBSBY Code was acted upon with unusual, and, in view ofits acnowledged importance, tion in time, of peace, registration of raspeising a ae = ee “ation of billions House on June , 1949, aliens and the aPProPTment of a new October 8, It goes into effect January efense, Miconality Code has received compara: 12, 254 oy Nationality Onde may valle publi. Tt is, nevertheless an Though the new Nationality Code my Mert of considerable importance, and its seem a Tong and involved dommes’ ©) infene may prove mre sg hm cMepachip and naturalization which it . cil tat of soe of the oer messes e+ ctzenship and eto soe {err te after taking office in 1933, Constitution provides that Cong hal Sent Re i it- have power “to establis! i Commit- have pt to est f President Roosevelt SP laws the of aturalizaton,” ut, that ideal has fecvto nevezomnend revisions, partic- never been even approximately attained. Os. Wn reference to removal of cer- Coutts and administrative authors aay Mig dscsninations, ced toodiy ding with, saturation Have, teen those laws ito one comprehensive nation- thwarted in achieving wnfoms) Dy fot ality law for submission to the Ganges piso element ft ion.” ean \. Oo a at the next session.” The membem eney brought notable order and system into i President's he Secretaries of State and confusion. Related provisions have bet a it together; ol 7 7 i i ttee grouped together; obs 7 oe aise p Pe i te orcontaictry provisionshave been cim- of “Advises, Petal of them recognized inated; and every effort hasbeen ade © qo as authorities on questions restate the subject ma i] i larity. of nationality and ctzenhips Me tor It Toy mnuch to hope that the Code dents estimate as wa vmting a code will offer no grounds for future conto: crane io optimist. Not in time vers, but it will inevitably bean improye: et ee = ion” but five years later ment over the statutes it rep! ee jee se eryane v5, 2938_—Was the Nationality Subdivision 7 of Seton 4 of sto Fone 3 to cady to submit its re- June 29, age the base Natraiaton i In view of the vital importance of Act. Practically every phrase ot the subject matter under discussion and ton, whic as wih the naturale i involved, ; e Us fe co ON eo Amy, Navy, Coast Guard te ens in the delay i fr or ce, however, the he merchant marine, alien ve nce before , : 67 Oversnapowep by more dramatic acts of Congress such as conscrip-