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chrisiant's review
3.0
As a pretty eclectic collection of essays, it was only to be expected that I had mixed results. There was a Wendell Berry essay that may just have changed my life (I'm definitely going to read more of him. I've had friends who recommended him for years and I never got around to it, but boy will I ever now). I wish I'd reviewed this before taking it back, because I'm going to forget the authors and which essay they belong to. There were some beautifully done explorations into various corners of the experience of dying. A memoir of a guy with a disease that eats holes in his brain - fascinating and well-written. An Indian woman takes on American food in the "if you are what you eat, then what am I?" mode. Andrew Sullivan makes a pretty compelling argument against the specific distinction of certain crimes as "hate crimes". The Peter Singer essay on how to save the world was a big turn off for me - it seemed like he was making tolerable points, but in obnoxious ways - I can't quite put my finger on why.
I would say this fell in the usual distribution of essay collections, maybe a bit higher. 3-4 I really enjoyed, 5 or so that were passably interesting, and another handful that I didn't really enjoy, and one or two I didn't even bother reading beyond the first page.
It's worth it for the Wendell Berry essay though...
I would say this fell in the usual distribution of essay collections, maybe a bit higher. 3-4 I really enjoyed, 5 or so that were passably interesting, and another handful that I didn't really enjoy, and one or two I didn't even bother reading beyond the first page.
It's worth it for the Wendell Berry essay though...
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