Young man dies, room untouched for years-- what was the name of the book?

Cafe Society
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I read a review of this book about 1998, and I meant to read it, but I lost the details and was never able to track it down. Does anyone know the name of this book?

True story: a young fellow died, and the room where he lived remained unopened and untouched for many years-- decades I think. Sometime in the 1990s, the author got access to his dusty room and the stuff he had accumulated, and reconstructed his extraordinary and eccentric life, which is the subject of the book.

This is what I remember from the review: this guy was an Orthodox Jew, and quite a scholar. He was a polymath and a student of multiple languages, including exotica like Japanese. He was single, in his 20s or 30s, and I think he was a bit of a recluse. His room was (I think) a rented room in someone’s house.

What was the book?

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Any of these ring a bell?: 10 Time Capsule Rooms Left Untouched for Decades | Mental Floss

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I think you’re thinking of Rodinsky’s Room:

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Elendil, thanks for that interesting site, but it was none of those.

A pint to Patrick-- that’s the book I was looking for. Many thanks.