More Alive and Less Lonely

February 20, 2017
The title of Lethem’s varied collection of book reviews, introductions, and literary essays will surely resonate with any dedicated reader. Curious and adventurous readers will find a plethora of reading suggestions as Lethem (A Gambler’s Anatomy) talks about authors old and new. Indeed, his dedication to contemporary writers is the main note here, though he does delve into some canonical figures, such as Charles Dickens. And his incisive, colorful, and insightful encapsulations of what makes their works special are beguiling, whether he is describing Steven Millhauser’s “coolly feverish” prose or alerting readers to the “brief, elliptical, and precise” pre–Remains of the Day novels of Kazuo Ishiguro. Even as a critic, he reads with enthusiasm. In his introduction to Tanguy Viel’s Beyond Suspicion, he writes, “The book’s reader will meet its opening pages with an intake of breath destined not to be completely released until its last lines have been reached.” He is particularly good at arousing interest in forgotten or obscure authors. Also running through his writing is a distinct love of his home town, New York City, and of New York authors, such as Vivian Gornick and Daniel Fuchs. An enthusiastic introduction by Christopher Boucher precedes the collection.

February 15, 2017
One of America's most accomplished writers looks back between the pages of other writers' books.Lethem (A Gambler's Anatomy, 2016, etc.) is no stranger to books, between working in bookstores and writing regularly about them for venues like the New Yorker and Harper's. Here, novelist Boucher (Golden Delicious, 2016, etc.) fondly curates a thoughtful and often sly collection of Lethem's thoughts on books, films, and other works of art culled from the past two decades. The essays, reviews, and other ephemera are divided into sections, ranging from "Engulf and Devour" (books in the literary canon) to "Lost Worlds" (long-lost gems). One of the delights is Lethem's personal voice, often laced with arch humor but absent the jarring postmodern irony that sometimes marks writers at McSweeney's. The author also lacks literary pretension, tackling titans like Kafka, Melville, and Dickens but also penning tributes to Rod Serling and Batman. There are affectionate pieces about Walter Tevis' obscure sci-fi novel Mockingbird (1980) and the late novelist Thomas Berger. Occasionally, there's self-conscious commentary, as in Lethem's footnote on Kazuo Ishiguro in which he admits he's embarrassed by some of these pieces. He also offers a wonderful triptych of stories about Philip K. Dick, whom Lethem dubs a "necessary writer, in the someone-would-have-had-to-invent-him sense...American Literature's Lenny Bruce." There are some strange experiments--e.g., a feature written entirely in footnotes, the last of which reads "I'm not making any of this fucking shit up." Another imagines an interview between the director Spike Jonze and the fictional character Perkus Tooth from Lethem's Chronic City (2009). Fans may also enjoy Lethem's encounters with writers he admires, ranging from affectionate memories of Philip Roth to a caustic encounter with Anthony Burgess. A throwaway line from an essay on amnesia sums up this standout collection: "I followed the higher principle of pleasure, tried to end where I'd started: with writing I loved and wanted to recommend to someone else. That is to say, you."

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2017

In this collection, novelist and essayist Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn; Fortress of Solitude) brings together decades of book reviews, introductions to anthologies and collected works, and other criticism that reveal his inquisitive and expansive reading habits. Lethem delivers these pieces in a relaxed, loose style, and as a novelist-critic, his language is typically articulate and sophisticated. He addresses the work under consideration with humorous and sometimes obsessive anecdotes about his own life, such as the stories told here in the selections about novelists Philip Roth or Kazuo Ishiguro. Lethem describes this approach as "more personal, more willingly subjective," and its overall effect is to bring the reader closer to the well-known (and less well-known) writers under review, and also to Lethem. The collection is edited and introduced by Boucher (English, Boston Coll.; Golden Delicious). VERDICT With such a wide variety of writings, at times this volume feels lacking in an overall coherent theme, but readers will be consistently won over by Lethem's sense of discovery. His sui generis criticism will leave readers wanting to read the books he discusses.--Doug Diesenhaus, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.