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LitNotes: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
December 7, 2007
He Has None for Denis Johnson: B. R. Myers eviscerates Tree of Smoke in the latest issue of The Atlantic: "One closes the book only with a renewed sense of the decline of American literary standards." Ouch. You may not agree with a word of this review, but it's worth reading because it is a review, rather than a mere plot summary or a meditation on the reviewer's memories of childhood, etc.
The Lack Thereof for Sci-Fi: "'The truth is..that we are at last living in an SF scenario' A collapsing environment, a hyperconnected world, suicide bombers, perpetual surveillance, the discovery of other solar systems, novel pathogens, tourists in space, children drugged with behaviour controllers – it’s all coming true at last." Bryan Appleyard wonders why we don't read more SF. Hmmm, could it be the decline of literary standards?
Alms for the Poor: Reviewing Gail Pool's Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America, James Wolcott reminds us: "Of all the nightmares on Elm Street haunting America's sleep, the bleak state of book reviewing would rank rather low on the worry meter, somewhere between the decline of the sitcom and the disappearance of the pay phone" and "Even the most scrupulous and fair-minded reviewer is considered suspect, a discount knockoff of a real writer."
All three of these pieces are worth reading, actually -- Happy Friday!
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on December 7, 2007 | Comments (1)
