First ofall, it's gorgeous. I am not thrilled with the cover, but the insideillustrations and pictures are all terrific and good quality. Yet this one isvery comprehensive and satisfying.Each entry is accompanied by an authoritative yetopinionated critical essay describing the importance and influence of the workin question. This is a splendid and much needed guide - the beautifulillustrations are worth the price. Which is where the fun starts - this is abook all readers will want to argue passionately with. If you had the time andmoney to read every one at a rate of one per week, you'd need 19 and a quarteryears, so you better get going. Each of which are going to take you 6 monthssolid. So okay - why no Raymond Carver, America's greatest short story writer?And sometimes it's hard to see that the
reviewer even likes the book inquestion - "The Secret History" is described as "quality trashfor highbrows"! Or take this: "As with his other writing `The Book ofLaughter and Forgetting' raises questions about the representation of femalecharacters, and invites accusations of latent misogyny. (And while on thesubject of misogyny, I'm sad to see the loathsome `American Psycho' in here -the reviewer (and editor) has
fallen for the old "it's ironic, it's notactually a book that
revels in
descriptions of
butchering women" line. Andwhile on the subject of misogyny, I'm sad to see the loathsome `AmericanPsycho' in here - the reviewer (and editor) has fallen for the old "it'sironic, it's not actually a book that revels in descriptions of butcheringwomen" line. It may be ironic, but I'm sorry to say that Mr Ellis does, infact, revel in vile descriptions of butchering women. So it is - extremely -misogynisticSome authors are wildly over-represented, such as J M Coatzee, Ian McEwan andPaul Auster, all of which have more titles in here than Henry James. It'sinteresting to check if the Booker Prizewinners are included - 20 are out of 37and there are some strange omissions - no room forVernon God Little" or"The True History of the Kelly Gang", "Sacred Hunger (nothing atall by Barry Unsworth in fact - what's wrong with him?), "The FamishedRoad" or "Hotel du Lac So you can see this is a guide with enough in it to annoy everyone - tremendousfun for everyone, but particularly those who have just been sentenced to a longstretch of solitary confinement
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