As a result, the characters in his own unhappy world have an astonishing and tortured similarity. A few of those tense moments spent with Mr. Cheever s people and their off-center agonies will buck you up no end for the ordeal ahead. Mr. Cheever must have raced straight for a pitcher of martinis and pack of cigarettes after reading that review. The notable reviews of each decade are organized in chapters. Turn to your favorite period of recent history and you ll be reminded of what you read in those days.
Some reviews are just plain puzzling.
Neither of them, for instance, wishes to enter his father s line of work. Well, it s hard to second-guess history and editor McGrath would agree with that. Finally, pity the poor reviewer who gave Sue Grafton s fabulously successful detective Kinsey Millhone the big brush-off. She is a cliche-ridden character representing the loneliness and alienation of her male counterparts. The writer, Grafton, is not spared, either.