NYTBR: So it goes without saying that the most talked about review of the weekend was Curtis Sittenfeld's snobbish takedown of Melissa Bank's new novel THE WONDER SPOT. So let's see, writing chick lit is like being a slut. Well, damn. I wonder what crime novelists are then? I should go retrieve my illegal red dress and knee high stiletto black boots right now to find out...
It's doubly ironic considering Bank's interview in the current edition of Entertainment Weekly, where she reveals that she just read PREP and thought "Curtis Sittenfeld is really great."
Otherwise, Randy Kennedy probes how all those front-of-the-store book tables are bought by publishers, Charles Taylor has a mixed take on John Burdett's latest Bangkok tale, and Deborah Friedell ponders what Amazon's quirky new features actually mean for selling books.
WaPo Book World: Paul Skenazy's mystery column focuses on new stuff by Donna Leon,Yasmina Khadra, David Housewright and Harry Hunsicker; Michael Dirda luuuuuuurves the "new" (well, it has been out for ages in the UK) biography of B.S. Johnson; and Book World editors pick the best novels of the season so far.
G&M: Lisa Gabriele is rather frustrated with Sean Wilsey's uberMcSweeney memoir; Martin Levin goes Down Under for some quality fiction at the Writer's Festival; and Kenneth Howe looks at how science has uniquely transformed the crime fighting game.
Observer: Laila Aboulela cares more about religion than nationality, as she explains in an interview with Anita Sethi; Nicholas Stagardt writes a chilling account of the role of children in Nazi Germany; and Stephanie Merritt is pleased with the International Man Booker Prize's choice for its inaugural winner.
The Scotsman: John Freeman finds out what's happening in Salman Rushdie's crazy conflicted life; Carol Anne Davis reveals what's on her bookshelf and what she got rid of from it; and Aline Templeton is trying to stake claim as the female equivalent of Ian Rankin.
The Rest:
Tom & Enid Schantz return with their mystery column for the Denver Post, looking at the latest by Mo Hayder, John Daniel and John Shannon.
David Montgomery's column at the Chicago Sun Times focuses on new releases by Laura Lippman, Julie Hyzy, Dylan Schaffer, Julia Spencer-Fleming and Lee Child, as well as the novella anthology TRANSGRESSIONS.
Lisa Scottoline talks to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about cruel rejections, sweet success and her latest book.
A two-fer at the SF Chronicle: David Lazarus rounds up new mysteries by Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard and Jilliane Hoffman, while Debra Spark has great things to say about Lee Martin's insanely good THE BRIGHT FOREVER.
Laura Demanski is not impressed at all with Nick Hornby's A LONG WAY DOWN. Seems to be the consensus, really...
Who are Australia's best young novelists? Find out here in this piece by the Sydney Morning Herald. A crime writer makes the cut, and I must say, I've wanted to read Leigh Redhead's book for ages -- surely some US publishers would want a stripper PI book?
And finally, need more proof that Crazy Frog is the worst thing to happen to, well, anything? Then read this.
I have to agree with you on two things, Sarah. First, Sittenfeld's review was way over the snobby line almost to the point of parody. And, second, yes, bring back the illegal red dress and knee high stiletto black boots.
Posted by: Otis | June 06, 2005 at 12:16 AM
What great reviews David gave Laura, Lee and Julia. I can't wait to read all three and am thrilled for them. What a season the summer is shaping up to be.
Posted by: m.j. rose | June 06, 2005 at 08:45 AM
I finished THE WONDER SPOT yesterday afternoon and am more inclined to agree with today's review (at least the best parts, not the caveats) by Janet Maslin. It is a better book than Bank's first, which I Iiked very much. It's the kind of book that makes a writer (well, a generous writer) stop and admire individual lines. Bank's work has an elliptical grace. What she leaves out is often better than what a lot of writers put in, if that makes any sense.
My hunch is that this take-down was Sittenfield's initiation into the Mean Girls literati. Meanwhile, she complained that she wasn't "one iota smarter" after reading it. In that case, I want to note that PREP actually made me feel stupider. I put it down midway through because its pretty little sentences could not make up for the nothing-happening solipsism. Contrast PREP's treatment of girls' friendships with THE WONDER SPOT and it will be found wanting. It was a very young writer's book. And if Sophie Applebaum is a fictional slut -- I think there are perhaps seven-10 men in her life, which ranges from 13 to 40, then I am the Whore of Babylon.
As for Nick Hornby -- well, I'm indebted to him, so I'll note it's not a consensus: PW gave it a starred review. And I'm not one to invest the pre-pubs with God-like power just now. In fact, in interest of full disclosure, my latest book is drawing the most polarized reviews of my career.
Couldn't be prouder.
Posted by: Laura | June 06, 2005 at 10:27 AM
Isn't it possible that Sittenfeld didn't realize how catty the points about sluts would sound? I don't know--I certainly haven't read THE WONDER SPOT--but I was not an admirer of THE GIRLS GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING. Everyone was raving about it, I read it with reasonably high hopes and actually thought it was extremely weak--give me BRIDGET JONES any day... I am firmly against the linked short-story collection as an alternative to the novel, I suppose there are a handful of good ones but to me they always feel like a cop-out. Mind you, this is all just my personal taste.... but I thought the Sittenfeld review gave off the feeling of a reluctant criticism by someone who would have really liked to like the book but just didn't.
Posted by: Jenny D | June 06, 2005 at 10:51 AM
Where do I sign up to become a member of the Mean Girls literati?
Sounds hot.
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | June 06, 2005 at 11:04 AM
I prefer novels, too, but I think THE WONDER SPOT made the form work.
And if Sittenfield is that naive -- well, that explains a lot about what I found lacking in PREP.
Posted by: Laura | June 06, 2005 at 11:05 AM
In a Mean Girl confession of my own, I will say that I was so consumed with envy about PREP's extreme (& slightly irrational?) success that I have sworn not to read it & wince when I see it in a bookstore!
Posted by: Jenny D | June 06, 2005 at 11:20 AM
Jenny, I came to PREP in the most open-hearted, affirmative spirit. I had put off reading it because I was deep in my own universe of adolescent girls and I attacked the novel it as if it were a long-denied treat.
It simply didn't work for me. I suppose if I wanted to ape her style, I would begin a review: "Perhaps it's a bit mean-spirited to point out that one can be a nerd _and_ a bitch . . ."
The most recent thread at my blog centered on childhood slights. Karen Olson wondered if all writers were once victims. Yes. But we are often victimizers, too, and it was that awareness I found lacking in PREP. One could argue that was the point -- that the character was clueless about her own cruelty and selfishness, that these qualities appeared in response to the culture in which she found herself. And perhaps if I could have finished the darn thing, I would have been rewarded.
Posted by: Laura | June 06, 2005 at 01:52 PM
I have just written a novel about adolescent girls as well, a school novel really, so I know what you're saying. (BTW Kazuo Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO is the must-read in this category--it is so, so good on delicate mapping of slights between teenage girls...) I'm going to go and read your comments thread right away! Thanks for your thoughtful comments here, too, very informative....
Posted by: Jenny D | June 06, 2005 at 03:27 PM
A bumpy ride? There was a time in my life when that would have sounded like fun. But now? On the other hand, what the hell. Bring it on, Otis!
Posted by: Elaine Flinn | June 07, 2005 at 03:10 PM