Two new reviews!
Don’t miss Lesser Ruins
Hello! It’s Saturday!
I had two (!) reviews out this week. (It was a busy week.)
First and most important: a review of a contemporary novelist I love and whom I think everyone should read. I don’t gush about a lot of contemporary fiction, so when I do, you know I mean it. Haber is anachronistic in all the best ways. Read my piece if you want; read his new novel, Lesser Ruins, and his last novel, Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, no matter what else you do!!!!! https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/04/lesser-ruins-mark-haber-review/
I also had the somewhat unfortunate task of reviewing Ta-Nehisi Coates’s new book. I describe this task as “unfortunate” because, at this moment of media hysteria, any review of him is also, necessarily, a review of the deranged ways in which his book has been received. But what’s so terrible and aggravating about the media circus surrounding Coates—as I argue in the piece—is precisely that he deserves (and indeed, explicitly demands in the book!) to be evaluated as a writer, that is, *read.* In fact, call me crazy, but I think anyone writing or talking about a book in public should focus to at least some extent on what the book actually says. (To be sure, the most interesting thing about some books is why they’re so popular. Still, you should always start by, you know, actually reading them.) The Message is a meandering essay collection that is not, actually, primarily about Palestine. I also don’t think it’s very good. The second unfortunate thing about writing about a book like this is that, no matter what you say, everyone will be furious at you. (Not that you should ever calibrate what you say so as to placate the sort of insane people who comment angrily on articles, but I can’t help being aware of them.) In this case, Coates has become a symbol to both his detractors and his fans, so I will undoubtedly come under fire for taking the world’s least popular position: he’s right about Palestine, and he’s brave to say what he does; the book is still bad as a piece of writing. The hardcore Zionists will be mad; the people who think we are all obligate to support Coates no matter what because he is brave about Palestine will also be mad. But a symbol is a demoralizing thing to be, and I don’t think Coates should have to be one, so I didn’t treat him like one. Instead, I actually read his book. Don’t kill me: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/05/message-ta-nehisi-coates-review/
Loved these reviews. Will read Haber, about whom I’ve always been curious. Relieved by the Coates one, I thought it was going to annoy me! But in fact your arg is very good and sensible
Devoured both reviews (outstanding reads in their own right) as soon as I got your newsletter, I now have to make room for the Haber once I make a dent in my current reading queue.
The Coates review was actually much fairer and less withering than I expected it to be, and I preferred it to the New Yorker review (even though I do enjoy Jay’s perspectives generally). I agree with both of you that it’s become very hard to talk about Ta-Nehisi these days and successfully get past the long shadow of his celebrity as a public intellectual, and (more broadly) the way many highly touted books get publicity through viral interviews and soundbites.