false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg 78432 7 In Martin Amis's <I>War Against Cliché</I>, a selection of critical essays and reviews published between 1971 and 2000, he establishes himself as one of the fiercest critics and commentators on the literature and culture of the late 20th century. (He has already established himself as one of the most controversial and original novelists writing in English with novels such as <I>Money</I> and <I>Time's Arrow</I>.) In his foreword to the book Amis ruefully admits that his earlier reviews reveal a rather humorless attitude towards the "Literature and Society" debate of the time. Yet this only adds to the fascination of the collection, as Amis gradually finds his critical voice in the 1980s, confirming his passionate belief that "all writing is a campaign against cliché." <p> In the subsequent sections of the book, this war leads to some wonderfully cutting and amusing responses to whatever crosses his path, from books on chess and nuclear proliferation to Cervantes' <I>Don Quixote</I> and the novels of his hero Vladimir Nabokov. Praise for his literary heroes is often fulsome: J.G. Ballard's <I>High-Rise</I> "is an intense and vivid bestiary, which lingers in the mind and chronically disquiets it." But his literary wrath is also devastating in its incisiveness: Thomas Harris's <I>Hannibal</I> is dismissed as "a novel of such profound and virtuoso vulgarity," while John Fowles is attacked because "he sweetens the pill: but the pill was saccharine all along." Often frank in its reappraisals (Amis concedes to being too hard on Ballard's <I>Crash</I> when reviewing the film many years later), some of the best writing is reserved for his journalism on sex manuals, chess, and his beloved football. <I>The War Against Cliché</I> will provoke strong reactions, but that only seems to confirm, rather than deny, the value of Amis's writing. <I>--Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk</I> 298425 16 7 2001 The War Against Cliche: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000 total:242|5:77|4:107|3:45|2:10|1:3| 242 971 361 27 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 1 1 false Thu Jun 19 13:08:24 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 13:59:41 -0700 2008
Since we're going to war and all's fair in love and war, we need to get some things ...more...]]> 307455 0786866748 9780786866748 15 3 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173596001m/307455.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307455.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Fri Mar 07 15:57:47 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 31 21:50:38 -0700 2008

"What, nowadays, is the constituency of U...more...]]> 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 17:24:24 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 17:28:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 22 08:39:26 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 08:39:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Thu May 10 17:04:45 -0700 2007 Mon May 14 11:40:12 -0700 2007
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.
...more...]]> 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 2 false Wed Aug 01 09:27:28 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 02 11:10:33 -0700 2007 more...]]> 864962 0224050591 9780224050593 3 2 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179006269m/864962.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/864962.War_Against_Cliche 4 1 false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Jun 13 04:50:29 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 05:05:51 -0700 2007 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 han...]]> 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 3 1 false Tue Jan 01 11:37:55 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 05:12:40 -0800 2008 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 10:21:35 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 10:24:32 -0800 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 13:16:08 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 13:17:18 -0700 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Jun 14 23:53:20 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 17:16:28 -0700 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 15:12:14 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 15:13:34 -0700 2008 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 2 1 false Thu Apr 17 17:12:03 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 14:47:54 -0700 2008 864962 0224050591 9780224050593 3 2 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179006269m/864962.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/864962.War_Against_Cliche 5 1 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat May 12 14:45:10 -0700 2007 Sat May 12 14:46:26 -0700 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 16:00:13 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 14 16:06:40 -0800 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Aug 20 11:39:01 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 11:39:01 -0700 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 00:34:39 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 28 13:53:07 -0800 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Mon Aug 20 19:49:15 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 19:49:55 -0700 2007 307455 0786866748 9780786866748 15 3 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173596001m/307455.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307455.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 4 1 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Mar 10 22:53:25 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 10 22:55:01 -0800 2007 78432 0375727167 9780375727160 215 21 4.01 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170943861m/78432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78432.The_War_Against_Cliche_Essays_and_Reviews_1971_2000 5 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Aug 02 05:38:48 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 13 11:51:48 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=78432