Eugene David
...The One-Minute Pundit

Sunday, March 07, 2004


A long time ago a writer named Farrell wrote some books about a character named Studs Lonigan -- soul-searing, truth-baring masterpieces. The Library of America has just reissued them, and if Jonathan Yardley is to be believed (as I think he is) they're as dead as the New Deal. "Opening the book with what can fairly be described as eagerness," he writes, "I quickly -- indeed almost immediately -- found myself fighting to stay attentive and awake. I also found myself wondering how many readers under the age of 30 would have any patience with Farrell's lumbering prose or would find anything within the trilogy with which to connect."

Think of it: what MASTERWORKS has our age produced? P. R. MEL's greatness, to be sure; The Sopranos -- genius for the ages; SLUTSVILLE likewise (but how quickly it's been forgotten); and the undying brilliance of Britney and rap. Which of these can survive two decades, let alone seven? And they aren't even in PRINT.

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