WHAT GIVES A NOVEL PROMInence? By that I don’t mean distinction, as the two are different qualities. The Swiss writer Robert Walser summed up the difference in his story “The Walk”, when the narrator entered a bookshop and, contemplating a particular volume, had the following exchange with the assistant.
“Could you swear that this is the most widely distributed book of the year?” “Without a doubt!” “Could you insist that this is the book which one has to have read?” “Unconditionally.” “Is this book also definitely good?” “What an utterly superfluous and inadmissible question.”
Two of this month’s books are among the most prominent releases of the year — prominent because their authors have established a reputation over decades-long careers. Happily (to give satisfaction to Robert Walser’s narrator) they are…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2024