Prolixity, when in the service of similitude, is no vice.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Reading them can be unsustaining and ill-making, the equivalent of eating only the yolks from eggs or the middles from Oreos or the livers from geese. One’s intellectual diet requires fiber too.
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The material here can be combed, like Rod Stewart’s hair, in many directions.
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I could pick more lint and dog hair from this book’s well-made sweater. If I never read another sentence by Ned Rorem (even his name scans like an anagram for boredom), I’ll die happy.
A City Portrayed by Diarists Who Had Their Own Problems; January 19, 2012
As “Wanted Women” progresses, following these women is like watching two deciduous trees in an arboretum: while one soars and bends toward the light, the other shrivels and grows stunted.
Warriors on 2 Sides of Militant Islam; January 15, 2012
His book rings your doorbell like a Mormon missionary, or like Mr. Romney himself on a particularly intimate campaign swing. That is, Mr. Bowman’s prose is well groomed, handsome, hale and hardy; you would probably allow your daughter to date it. It is also watery and dull, void of interesting expression or opinion. Like a Mormon dinner party, it offers no wine or espresso, and good luck sneaking out for a cigarette.
All-American Religion or Reason to Worry?; January 24, 2012
The book resides in the popular imagination as kitsch, as if it were a series of aroused and arousing Pilates poses for two.
When to Quote Poetry or Moan Like a Moorhen; January 31, 2012
They function, emotionally, like improvised explosive devices: the pain comes at you from the cruelest angles, on the sunniest of days.
The Free Verse Is In Aisle 3; February 4, 2010
Reading this, you prop up your eyelids with toothpicks and stick around for the good bits.
When Video Killed Radio Stars; October 24, 2011
It’s possible to enjoy this book, knowing you won’t completely respect it in the morning.
A Foreign Correspondent in Nazi Germany Who Interpreted It for the World; August 9, 2011
They pop from the chute like Krispy Kremes. Many of Patterson’s books are composed with other writers, as if he had a tree filled with Keebler elves outfitted with laptops and wee kegs of Red Bull.
Dear Important Novelists: Be Less Like Moses and More Like Howard Cosell; September 16, 2011
Ms. Gorokhova’s book is its own trembling mountain of crumbs.
In the Soviet Union, When Food Was Scarce, Hope Could Still Be Nourished; January 12, 2010
Like all of his books this one is shaggy and overfilled. It’s a cabbage rather than a rose, a tangy ring of bologna rather than a sirloin. Side effects may include heartburn.
A Contrarian Out Looking For Trouble; September 14, 2011
This book is as sterile and bland and hard as a Florida tomato in February. No juice will dribble down your chin.
America’s Grocery Behemoth; September 6, 2011
All this sounds like a delicious and ready-made memoir kit; just add boiling water, a stick of butter, and stir.
Father Did the Math; The Maid Solved Problems; April 1, 2010
His narrative is jittery; it jumps back and forth among decades and characters until you’ll need a GPS to find your way home.
Tune In, Turn On, Turn Page; January 7, 2010
He’s most comfortable — and readable — when he’s on the move, when he’s flexing his joints as well as his synapses. He needs fresh air, some windows rolled down, a Merle Haggard CD on the car stereo.
Some for the Road: The Odds and Ends From a Traveler’s Tales; September 15, 2011
This is a very large and not overly elegant book; committing to it is like committing to a marriage, or to a car lease, or to climbing Everest. Base camps will periodically need to be established on this 804-page mountain. Sherpas — perhaps in the form of your children, delivering sustaining tea and coffee and rum — will be required. Nearing the summit you may find the dead bodies of those who did not make it all the way.
Visions of an Age When Oil Isn’t King; September 20, 2011
