Friday, November 21, 2008

Books in My Lobby 4


I've never heard of Joseph Kanon (only 181,000 google results--oh, he wrote The Good German) but I really wonder how captivating and intriguing and tense and superb it is. Let's see what the critics really say.

From TheMysteryReader.com: "What if? If Joe Kanon had remained a publisher, the mystery reading world would have been cheated the skills of a very competent storyteller." Not bad, not great. Let's see what Publisher's Weekly has to say: "Kanon's second novel, after the very well-received Los Alamos, is somewhat disappointing." Can you say Sophomore slump? I can. Sophomore slump. Library Journal says: "A treat for crime fans who appreciate blithe and brittle writing." Better, better. One more. This from Booklist: "Readers who enjoy Kanon's exciting mixture of the real and the imagined should flock to this excellent historical crime novel." Score! Well played Mr. Kanon, well played indeed.

What's the cheapest copy I can find? Sorry Mr. Kanon, but a used copy of your mass market paperback sells through Amazon for just $0.01.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post is a delight. You have such surprising way of not writing cliches, Your book reviews amaze and entertain me.

Liz Smith said...

Ha! Very funny take on this installment of Books In My Lobby. But I hope Mr. Kanon never sees this then runs across a remaindered copy of ALD someday in the future. Payback's a bitch ya know :)

Dell Smith said...

Cliches. Yes, it's imperative to avoid them. That sounds like a good idea for a post...And as for ALD, I guess I don't need to worry about getting remaindered just yet.