Who is Jasjoe? Is he in the book?

[Stephen]

“That was the day I knew. It was as if Rolls met Royce, Black met Decker, Oliver met Stan, TinTin met Snowy, Marks met Spencer... he was to me what Patracolus was to Achilles, Hylas to Hercules, Enkidoe to Gilgamesh, Jonathan to David, Bosie to Oscar Wilde, Rimbaud to Verlaine. He was my Billy Budd, all the holy multitude of Thebes, Jasjoe mixed with Tadzio...”

I recently came across this quote in another book and could place all the references EXCEPT Jasjoe. Given that he's tied to Tadzio, I'm guessing that it's a Death in Venice reference but I've only seen the movie and not yet read the book.

Google wasn't much help. Can someone fill me in?

[Giansar]

It was Jasiu. He was a friend of Tadzio. It should be pronounced (roughly) "Yassu". It is a diminutive of Jan (John), once one of the commonest Polish first names.
Incidentally Tadzio is a diminutive of Tadeusz.

I hope this helps.

[Stephen]

Thanks! That's exactly the answer I was looking for.