Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Plain-Spoken Fiction Full of Traditional Virtues

Over at The New York Times, reviewer Janet Maslin remarks that books like Hannah Tinti's The Good Thief and David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle "amount to a kind of novelty right now. " In these books, "the reader can find plain-spoken fiction full of traditional virtues: strong plotting, pure lucidity, visceral momentum and a total absence of writerly mannerisms." I enjoyed The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (my review is here), and I have Tinti's new book on my review shelf. I'm looking forward to reading it.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I think he's absolutely right about The Good Thief - it's a fable about a little boy who wants to do the right thing and I thought it was wonderful. Sawtelle is on my wish list and I'm looking forward to reading it.