Is there anything that Martin Amis can’t write about? In this virtuosic, career-spanning collection he takes on James Joyce and Elvis ...
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Jun 27, 2011
Jessica
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Here's another piece about that chick who's dying in her bookstore because, according to the NYRB, she's allergic to Martin Amis. Poor girl... Well, I have my problems too, sister, but I don't have yours. I'm not allergic to Martin Amis. I am addicted to Martin Amis.
Those of my Booksters who have known me too long now are aware that I have a very serious and embarrassing Martin Amis Problem. It reminds one of youthful compulsions towards hedonism, vice, wildly inappropriate men, and More...
Those of my Booksters who have known me too long now are aware that I have a very serious and embarrassing Martin Amis Problem. It reminds one of youthful compulsions towards hedonism, vice, wildly inappropriate men, and More...
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Dec 17, 2009
Lorraine
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Hilarious acute and acutely hilarious. Say what you want about Amis's stands, this guy is a good writer. The style here is great. It's funny -- the man definitely has a good head for writing in the idiom of the book reviewed -- and a huge sensitivity to language. Better than all of his fiction in my opinion...
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Sep 04, 2008
ch
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The great thing about starting a "war against cliche" is that it's so catchy. Why write a book about how to avoid cliches when you can let loose the dogs of war and lay down some shock and awe.
Since we're going to war and all's fair in love and war, we need to get some things straight. First, let's remember what we've learned from the movies.
1) You're very likely to survive any battle in any war, unless you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back hom More...
Since we're going to war and all's fair in love and war, we need to get some things straight. First, let's remember what we've learned from the movies.
1) You're very likely to survive any battle in any war, unless you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back hom More...
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Mar 31, 2008
Kathy
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Amis's book of essays and reviews is funny and astute. It's also full of the kind of contrarian pronouncements that I sometimes take a secret delight in. Here, for instance, Amis dares to hint that nobody really reads Ulysses anymore:
"What, nowadays, is the constituency of Ulysses? Who reads it? Who curls up with Ulysses? It is thoroughly studied, it is exhaustively unzipped and unseamed, it is much deconstructed. But who reads Ulysses for the hell of it? I know a poet w More...
"What, nowadays, is the constituency of Ulysses? Who reads it? Who curls up with Ulysses? It is thoroughly studied, it is exhaustively unzipped and unseamed, it is much deconstructed. But who reads Ulysses for the hell of it? I know a poet w More...
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Jan 04, 2008
Amy
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As a novel junkie, it took me a while to get started on this book of book reviews recommended by my fiance. Now I can't stop reading it. Of course I feel so ignorant, since Amis is a genius who knows a lot about everything. But at least I am learning a little bit about some things from him. His reviews are more like essays on the topic about which the book is written and it is totally unnecessary to have read any of the books to follow his logic and thoughs. It's also fun to read in the same
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Sep 23, 2011
Marie-jo
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Literary and popular cultures are examined in this book of essays -written between 1971 and 2000. Authors of acknowledged masterpieces (Cervantes, Jane Austen, Coleridge, Updike, Dickens, Saul Bellow, etc.), popular authors (Michael Crichton, Tom Wolfe...), politicians, chess and sports are forced to cohabit in this collection.
Like many young intellectuals, Amis as a young critic is more in love with his own cleverness than with the author or celebrity he examines. As he gets older, he More...
Like many young intellectuals, Amis as a young critic is more in love with his own cleverness than with the author or celebrity he examines. As he gets older, he More...
Mar 22, 2008
Andrew
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Read poolside at the Arizona Inn. The first essay I turned to, about Elmore Leonard, was one of the strongest, though they are all superb. A great book to just pick up from time to time and read a random selection. This is my first exposure to M. Amis, and I am extremely envious of his writing flair and natural talent. Some of the earlier essays date from his early 20s!
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May 14, 2007
Shawn
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the most sheerly fun book of criticism (journalistic cricitism, not scholarly stuff) I've ever read.
Shaped a lot of my current feelings about the relationship between reader and writer, and the manner in which a reader can claim his or her own portion of the literary conversation.
Quote to live by: "All writing is a campaign against cliche."
Shaped a lot of my current feelings about the relationship between reader and writer, and the manner in which a reader can claim his or her own portion of the literary conversation.
Quote to live by: "All writing is a campaign against cliche."
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Jan 07, 2008
Sean
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there are some really good essays in here and i like the way amis organizes them. the last section deals with his personal thoughts on what he believes to be the best of the best english novels of all time. he also burns some critics for their praise of novels he believes to be rubbish.
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Dec 16, 2009
Ben
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This is one of those books that would have me chuckling away at night as I sat up in bed reading.
His review of 'Hannibal' is great. Right on the money.
He has such a skill with the written word, and this book shows that even the reviewing format can be a dazzling platform in the right hands.
His review of 'Hannibal' is great. Right on the money.
He has such a skill with the written word, and this book shows that even the reviewing format can be a dazzling platform in the right hands.
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Dec 13, 2009
Amis is a really terrific book reviewer; acid about any error, able to pinpoint a book's strengths, well versed in the historical. Highlights here include his ability to explain J.G. Ballard and Elmore Leonard's talents, the panning of Hannibal and dissection of a middling humor anthology, an enthusiastic endorsement of Underworld that's still online. The only weak essay is his attempt to explain Jane Austen's appeal-he quotes some passages, doesn't really make any claims about how we get involv
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Nov 30, 2007
Erik
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Martin Amis is probably a better critic than he is a writer (as many people before me have pointed out). This collection of essays and reviews is pretty great, especially when he tears somebody a new one in his very well mannered, British gentleman way.
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Aug 30, 2008
M. D.
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Marvelous collection of lit essays. The central pieces on poet Philip Larkin are my favorite. Amis gets trashed a lot for being mean, but I like 'em mean.
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May 03, 2008
Greg
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Amis is sharp and a pleasure to read. I got this book as a random gift, otherwise I wouldn't start with a collection of decade-old book reviews.
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Nov 14, 2007
Henry
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Loved it, he is anti bland, everything he writes is interesting, although the young fogey occasionally shines through.
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Dec 28, 2007
Leonardo
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30 years of book reviews. Some of the most literary vicious and clever essays out there.
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Dec 17, 2009
Jonathan
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Terry Eagelton might be disappointed with him and his father but I liked this collection of essays.
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May 20, 2011
Leigh
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I like Martin Amis's nonfiction better than his fiction, basically.
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Aug 20, 2007
Jonathan
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Martin Amis is smarter than you.
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Jan 30, 2011
Snehal
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Reviewers can be rather hostile: 'The audience was reserved and quietly attentive – until Rita Hayworth danced onto the screen in a flaming red dress, cut to show a major part of her acting ability.' was how Ms. Hayworth had her performance assessed by one, and Martin Amis is no exception.
For forty years, through his reviews and essays, Amis has been waging war against bad writing of all forms: dull prose and obtuse poetry, wearisome platitudes, grammatical monstrosities, elaborate b More...
For forty years, through his reviews and essays, Amis has been waging war against bad writing of all forms: dull prose and obtuse poetry, wearisome platitudes, grammatical monstrosities, elaborate b More...
Jan 31, 2010
Andrea Carolina
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La Guerra contra el cliché es un libro que recopila una serie de ensayos del escritor Martin Amis. Los ensayos van desde asuntos tales como masculinidad, ajedrez, sexo hasta Jane Austen, James Joyce y Nabokov, por supuesto Nabokov.
Tenía que llegar al Amis ensayista, ya estaba cansada de oír y leer que es un gran ensayista más que un gran escritor y solo digo que es mejor escritor que ensayista, la verdad es que mejor digo que no se compara una cosa con la otra, ser un crítico no tien More...
Tenía que llegar al Amis ensayista, ya estaba cansada de oír y leer que es un gran ensayista más que un gran escritor y solo digo que es mejor escritor que ensayista, la verdad es que mejor digo que no se compara una cosa con la otra, ser un crítico no tien More...
Oct 07, 2008
Mr.
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Martin Amis has long since established himself as one of Britain's leading novelists. It does not follow that he is necessarily a great critic of literature or even a great essayist. And he is not; but he is damned good all the same.
This collection gathers a wide variety of literary reviews from 1977-2000 (though the majority of them were composed during the 70's and 80's while Amis was writing for the New Statesman) which provide curious readers with a marvelous resource in the rea More...
This collection gathers a wide variety of literary reviews from 1977-2000 (though the majority of them were composed during the 70's and 80's while Amis was writing for the New Statesman) which provide curious readers with a marvelous resource in the rea More...
May 04, 2010
Bob
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Nice to pick up a massive collection of literary essays like this every few years and see what one has read in the interim (I think I returned to it because Amis is a big Saul Bellow fan, and when you're Martin Amis, you then get to be friends with the people you admire).
One thing I enjoy about this is Amis is not embarrassed to include his slightly arrogant juvenilia (occasionally with a rueful footnote).
One thing I enjoy about this is Amis is not embarrassed to include his slightly arrogant juvenilia (occasionally with a rueful footnote).
Aug 07, 2011
Ron
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Amis may be the finest British novelist of his generation, far surpassing his father's tedious works, and this collection of his essays offers as much proof as his works of fiction. He tackles all of the literary heavyweights to be sure, but also trolls about in popular culture to dissect the Iron John movement, chess, poker, soccer and the popular trash of Elmore Leonard, Thomas Harris and Michael Crichton. Essential!!
Nov 04, 2011
Christian
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His voice is great, I think reading this book actually helped a lot with my writing. The only drawback is the amount of time he spends writing about things no one else could ever care about (like the multiple essays on Philip Larkin or Philip Roth). Otherwise, his voice crackles with intelligence and originality. Very funny, too.
Sep 06, 2011
Josh
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I don't like Amis very much. (Money and The Rachel Papers are fun, but ultimately fall a little flat for me.) This is the only non-fiction of his that I've read and it's brilliant. Very cynical, but that's where a good deal of his power is generated. Thoughtful and thought-provoking.
Mar 22, 2011
David
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The long essays on Don Quixote, Pride and Prejudice and The Adventures of Augie March are worth the price of the book alone.
Amis seems to have stopped reviewing books in recent years and I wish he would start again.
Amis seems to have stopped reviewing books in recent years and I wish he would start again.
Jun 30, 2011
Kkee
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Love. Would read his thoughts on all topics (except int'l politics, etc). His language - warm, ascerbic, grassy - is both laconic & aggresively generous. Is like fighting & making out in same breath.
