Eugene David ...The One-Minute Pundit |
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Sunday, November 29, 2009
Jonathan Yardley, who has gone worrisomely MIA of late, is back, and here is a last graf to prove it:
"The memoir boom," [Ben Yagoda] writes, "for all its sins, has been a net plus for the cause of writing. Under its auspices, voices and stories have emerged that, otherwise, would have been dull impersonal nonfiction tomes or forgettable autobiographical novels, or wouldn't have been expressed at all." Alas, it is here that I part company with this otherwise exemplary book. What the memoir boom has in fact given us is too many dull or forgettable memoirs, precious few of which have enriched our literature but most of which have simply encouraged the narcissism of their authors. Thank you, your departing Goddess Oprah!
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