Reviews: Book
MARTIN AMIS VISITING MRS. NABOKOV AND OTHER EXCURSIONS (VINTAGE
PAPERBACK)
Martin Amis, in addition to being the author of controversial, misanthropic, and sometimes brilliant novels, also undertakes
many shorter reporting and interviewing assignments for the literary publications of the day. This is a collection of such articles
from the past decade and a half. There's something for the whole family--conversations with several disparate novelists
(Greene, Updike, Ballard, Rushdie, Burgess), a non-conversation with Madonna, an account of Elton John's soccer team
touring China, musings on women's tennis, a Republican convention, the mindset of those whose work is "strategizing" about
nuclear weapons, and darts. Among the best pieces are the ones about the mindgames involved in playing chess at the highest
levels, a hilarious account of the fear and loathing involved in Amis' snooker rivalry with author Julian Barnes, and an essay
featuring a young Amis' bemusement at the absurd spectacle of a gaggle of photographers trying to cajole a topless sunbather
in Cannes into turning over. This collection features the wit and wordplay for which Amis is justly renowned, but little of the
misanthropy for which he is notorious. (Gabe)
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