Transcriber’s note:

The few minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Pleasesee the transcriber’s note at the end of this textfor details regarding the handling of any textual issues encounteredduring its preparation.

Corrections in spelling are indicated using an underlinehighlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce theoriginal text in a small popup.

The cover image has been modified and is placed in the public domain.

Corrections in spelling are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate thereader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in thenote at the end of the text.

The cover image has been modified and is placed in the public domain.

THE
 
SEVEN
 
STAIRS

Stuart Brent
THE
Houghton Mifflin Company Boston
SEVEN
The Riverside Press Cambridge
STAIRS
Nineteen Sixty-Two
First Printing
Copyright © 1962 by Stuart Brent
All rights reserved including the right
to reproduce this book or parts thereof
in any form
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-8119
The quotation on pages 89 and 90 is from The
Literary Situation by Malcolm Cowley. Copyright
1954 by Malcolm Cowley. Reprinted by permission
of the Viking Press, Inc.
The Riverside Press
Cambridge · Massachusetts
Printed in the U.S.A.
  • To
  • my
  • mother
  • and
  • father

Acknowledgments

In a real sense, this book is an acknowledgment to all whohave had a part in shaping my life and being. Since theirnames appear only incidentally and accidentally—if atall—in the course of the text, I hope with all my heartthat they will accept this collective note of gratitude forall their help.

In particular, however, I wish to mention HardwickMoseley for his encouragement when the going wasrough; Milton Gilbert who made the Seven Stairs possiblein the first place; Henry Dry, one of the few men I knowwho understand the meaning of forbearance; Goldie andKalmin Levin (Jennie’s mother and father) for their devotionand unfailing help; Robert Parrish for his blue penciling;and Hope, who after giving birth to our son,Joseph, tenderly cared for the unstrung father through thepangs of giving birth to The Seven Stairs.

S. B.