Lee Goldberg (with additional commentary by his brother, Tod) point out just how much of a train wreck Eugen Weber's occasional mystery column for the LA Times truly is. The words used are "cliched" "incoherent" and I'll add "mystifying" as well. As Lee says:
He has this to say about George Pelecanos' DRAMA CITY:
"Melodrama City" might be more to the point, but what matters is that Pelecanos is the foremost chronicler of our urban wastelands. His prose serves up vivid versions of them that we won't find in tourist guides: drink, drugs, slaughter, random callousness, casual kindness, tuna sandwiches, sounds that currently pass for music and the rest.
These aren't reviews. I'm not sure what the heck they are except, collectively, another dramatic example that it's time to replace Eugen with a real mystery critic, someone with knowledge of the genre, who is respected in the field, and who can actually write coherently without resorting to cliches.
This is why I couldn't link to the column during my weekend update yesterday. I didn't really feel like spending the rest of my Sunday foaming at the mouth, crying for mercy. Even if you accept the cliches, would it be so terrible for Weber to review books that were released, oh, in the last month or so?
And in answer to Keith's question posed in the comments section, yes, reviews exist in their own little meta-bubble (I write them, so I understand this) and aren't necessarily a good indication of literary merit, but at least they ought to be reasonably well-written and comprehensible.
Certain words make me twitch and "chronicler" is most assuredly one of them. It's up there with "helm" as a verb. And you're right - what IS that? You wanna write an essay on writers of books about "our urban wasteland" (gack! I sure don't wanna READ them but never mind) do so and hope someone will want to publish it. Nowhere does this tell me why I would want/not want to read this Pelecanos book.
Oh and add to the list of things I'm not sure i want to read about? A "vivid version" of a tuna sandwich. HUH??? No but thanks for asking.
Posted by: Andi | July 11, 2005 at 12:51 PM
Well now, I will say that from the description it didn't sound like my kind of book. That may have been the message.
Posted by: Ingrid | July 11, 2005 at 02:39 PM