The New Yorker: "Starlight" by Ann Beattie

September 19, 2011: "Starlight" by Ann Beattie
This week's "story" is an excerpt from Ann Beattie's new "novel,"although it isn't clear that the book is really a novel, and this excerptcertainly isn't a story. The portrait it gives of Richard Nixon and his familythrough the eyes of Pat Nixon is somewhat amusing, but to what end iscompletely unclear. I like Beattie's work, but this struck me as a waste ofvaluable space in the pages of The New Yorker.
On the other hand, the Q&A with Ann Beattie on thewebsite is interesting, and I recommend that.