When it comes to NY Times Book Review bashing, I have mixed feelings about the “why does it take them forever to review some books?” attack, because I do believe there’s a good argument to be made for being able to consider a book, and render a critical assessment, at one’s own pace, without concerning oneself with publication dates and retail windows of opportunity. If you’re going to take that approach, though, the insight brought to the text ought to be worth the wait, and it’s true that the Review has displayed a recurring problem covering a certain kind of “hot” nonfiction title in either a timely or particularly insightful fashion. The problem, then, isn’t why it takes them so long to review some books, but why certain books rate barely perfunctory coverage, delivered long after most critics and readers have moved on.
Unfortunately, Walter Kirn‘s review of Bright Shiny Morning in yesterday’s NYTBR shows that the problem extends to fiction titles as well. Oh, it’s a perfectly fine 1,076-word review—or, rather, it would’ve been perfectly fine back in early May, when Janet Maslin had her 933-word say. Unfortunately, Kirn (who is usually one of the recurring bright spots in the Review pages) doesn’t do much with his extra 143 words; he just tells us that James Frey is a terrible novelist, which is pretty much what everybody except Maslin David Ulin and other critics told us when the book came out.
(ADDENDUM, 7/8: Although the LA Times Book Review pan had stuck out most prominently in my memory, especially since the blogosphere immediately positioned it as a sharp rebuke to Maslin’s praise, I should not have let it skew my perspective as much as it did—if you dive into Google, the argument over the book’s merits or lack thereof is significantly more nuanced that I originally made it out to be. Maslin was not so alone in her enthusiasm, and even the critics who hated the novel usually wond up admitting it had… something.)
I haven’t read the novel, and though I’ll admit to some curiosity, so many books have been added to my to-read pile in the last two months that I don’t foresee reading it any time soon, but if I were still unresolved, does this review bring any significant new insight to help me decide?