premise: Reviewers note that the essays, like the book, are long (97 pages about a cruise-ship voyage, 54 on the Illinois State Fair) and playful (He trounces words; he pivots on commas; he drops in and out of styles like a vaudevillian who lets the audience watch him change costumes right there on stage, says the Los Angeles Times ' Susan Salter Reynolds).
hypothesis: Reviewers note that the essays are like his book, long and playful.