Posted 12:34 PM by Gene

Reviewing a book about The Grapes of Wrath Jonathan Yardley (who has discussed the topic before with some irritation) says an "important" novel may not be a good one. It's especially timely given the ghastly suicide of David Foster Wallace, who wrote one famous book (and whom The Paper of Re-CORD tellingly identifies in the hed as a "postmodern writer", not by his name), and from what we can gather it was a modern-day Tristram Shandy with footnotes, and we've discussed the topic before with some irritation. We have also said before that no judge is as stern as posterity, and when books go unread, or read only for their academic value, it may be unjust, but more likely there may be a reason.