The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America

by Martin Amis

A collection of essays on America by the author of London Fields, Money and Yellow Dog.

At the age of ten, when Martin Amis spent a year in Princeton, New Jersey, he was excited and frightened by America. As an adult he has approached that confusing country from many arresting angles, and interviewed its literati, filmmakers, thinkers, opinion makers, leaders and crackpots with characteristic discernment and wit.

Included in a gallery of Great American Novelists are Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Joseph Heller, William Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike, Paul Theroux, Philip Roth and Saul Bellow. Amis also takes us to Dallas, where presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is attempting to liaise with born-again Christians. We glimpse the beau monde of Palm Beach, where each couple tries to out-Gatsby the other, and examine the case of Claus von Bulow. Steven Spielberg gets a visit, as does Brian de Palma, whom Amis asks why his films make no sense, and Hugh Hefner's sybaritic fortress and sanitised image are penetrated.

There can be little that escapes the eye of Martin Amis when his curiosity leads him to a subject, and America has found in him a superlative chronicler.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Travel, Criticism, Literature, British Literature, Literary Criticism

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Martin Amis was an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His works included the novels Money, London Fields and The Information.

The Guardian writes that "all his critics have noted what Kingsley Amis [his father] complained of as a 'terrible compulsive vividness in his style... that constant demonstrating of his command of English'; and it's true that the Amis-ness of Amis will be recognisable in any piece before he reaches his first full stop."

Amis's raw material is what he sees as the absurdity of the postmodern condition with its grotesque caricatures. He has thus sometimes been portrayed as the undisputed master of what the New York Times has called "the new unpleasantness."

Reviews

[Tony Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, is Martin Amis's journalism good. In this first non-fiction collection (if we do as an embarrassed Martin would like and forget about Invasion of the Space Invaders: I read it and thought it was adorable) Amis tackles, as Saul Bellow deemed it, the Moronic Inferno, a.ka. The United States of America. In a brief introduction, our author makes no claim for the essays that follow standing as any real uniform say on the U.S., but instead suggests that the reader favors the writings as brief stabs at the idea of the Western Wonder of the World, each jab coming from a different angle.

And so we get a delightful assortment of journalistic pieces with very different subjects and aims. When not chatting with a dreamy Vonnegut, or verbally resuscitating a pill-addled Truman Capote, or tiptoeing around an excitable, priggish celebrity like Gore Vidal or Norman Mailer, or fanboy-gushing over Saul Bellow, Amis turns his determined gaze to hot-topic issues such as the AIDs epidemic, feminism, the unsolved murder of black children in Atlanta, a media circus surrounding the possible attempt of murdering an American Heiress (of sorts),the unbelievable story of an aging actor actually acting his way into the presidency, the rise of Mammon-worshipping televangelists, and even a trip to the strange, troublesome little ecosystem that is the Playboy Mansion. Readers or refuse-to-read-ers should be pleased to hear that these articles reveal a voice closer to the actual Amis. He is not the hedonistic, misogynist that naysayers love to make a straw man out of, but instead we see the lively, generous mind of a deeply moral young man who is sickened by the causal cruelty with which society treats women, minorities, and the poor.

In his fiction, Martin Amis may be able to stare down the deep, dark well of humanity and laugh and laugh, but remember: he is one of the good guys, folks. Martin Amis is one of the good guys and here it shows in every sentence.

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reading Amis since he passed away back in May, and I have to say, having now read all his novels - which have been hit and miss for me, I've always enjoyed his non-fiction. This lesser known collection of essays from the mid 80s was funny, insightful, and at times quite moving - in particular going to interview a very frail Truman Capote at his New York apartment. Other pieces include writing about Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer - one the most interesting, Philip Roth, Elvis, Brian De Palma, Gore Vidal, Hugh Hefner, AIDS, and Reagan. Very well written, and it's easy to see why Amis would make America his home.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim and sedulous selection of Marty's early-80s US travels. His status as an author and critic has grown considerably since 1986, so this collection lacks any relevance or substance, contemporary-wards, but there are good pieces. Bellow, Updike, Roth, Mailer, Vonnegut, Capote, Heller. They're all here. (And all dead). *

Marty's non-fiction output is rather thin on the ground. Apart from the tremendous collection The War Against Cliché we could use more articles and opinions from Britain's more desireable sexagenarian. I'm looking at you, Penguin.

* OK, except Roth. Not long to go now!

[Trin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amis makes anime eyes and pleads, "Notice me, senpai!" at Saul Bellow for 200 pages (even the title is a Bellow quote). I don't understand Amis' obsession with and generosity toward Bellow, especially when he's so tart and clear-eyed toward all the other literary figures he profiles in this book (though I think he's a bit unnecessarily harsh with Roth -- perhaps because Roth is perceived as the direct rival to his Special Guy?). Still, this is a highly enjoyable collection of essays. The pieces are very much of their time, especially the political ones, but this gives them a time capsule-like quality that's fascinating, if a bit bracing. We've both made a lot of progress (Amis sticks his neck out to defend AIDS patients in an essay that modern Twitter would absolutely tear apart) and...haven't (Amis predicts that the Religious Right will never run the country...tragically off base there, Marty!).

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this before delving into the works of post-Vietnam American literature. Bellow survives, and the essays of Vidal, but the rest (Vonnegut, Mailer, Heller, others) is thin gruel indeed.

For me the primo, top shelf, take no prisoners essays were not the essays on US authors—rather, they were the essay on Playboy and the essay on Evangelicals. And these alone were worth the price. Amis’ witty and careful dismantling of the Hefner era Playboy empire is cathartic and yet gives way to foreboding in the slow realization that we are seeing now on a larger social scale exactly the kind of seigneurism that characterized the Playboy empire before its demise.

[Blake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Martin Amis book. But i am just starting EXPERIENCE which looks really good as well. I think his non-fiction is better than his fiction, but i think i am in the minority opinion on that.

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never really read Martin Amis's work before; I had "London Fields" for a while when I was in my twenties and tried to read it, but didn't get far. As is so often the case, sometimes the best introduction to a writer of fiction is their non-fiction works (I've read more of Stephen King's non-fiction than his novels or stories, and Larry McMurtry's non-fiction is fantastic though I've never read his novels). So "The Moronic Inferno" turns out to be a great way to acquaint myself with Amis (son of the legendary British novelist Kingsley Amis and a literary titan himself), through journalistic pieces that he wrote for various publications throughout the Seventies and Eighties. Here we get profiles of Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Gloria Steinem, Ronald Reagan, and Saul Bellow, as well as prescient pieces on the AIDS crisis and the rise of the Christian conservative movement (the latter was blood-chilling in how familiar it felt to what's going on today). There are book reviews and travel pieces as well, and Amis proves to be a very witty, chatty guide to America and American life in the era when everything was bigger, and money was our God (not that either of those things have changed, really). A great, entertaining read that feels more relevant to our times than it might seem initially, given when the pieces were originally written.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason I read this collection of Amis's early 1980s journalism some thirty odd years after it was published. Why I ask myself? Did I really need to read more Claus von Bulow, fatuities about Palm Beach society? Interviews with the grand old men of post WWII American literature by the self promoted wunderkind of English literature?

If it was stupid to read it eight years ago it incomprehensible to imagine you would read it now.

[Jesús Santana · Rating 3 out of 5]

El novelista británico Martin Amis decidió hacer una especie de retrato de la sociedad norteamericana entre mediados y finales de la década de los ‘70 y ‘80 con una cantidad de crónicas periodísticas para diferentes revistas entre las que se encontraban “Vanity Fair”, “The Observer” y “London Review of Books” entre otras, con una muy variopinta selección de personajes públicos y de hechos de considerable relevancia dentro de la Norteamérica de esos tiempos. Siendo realmente honesto es mi primer encuentro con el trabajo de Martin Amis y ha despertado en mi un gran interés en seguir leyéndolo y descubriéndolo, en cuanto tenga la oportunidad debo de visitar “El libro de Rachel” por una gran cantidad de buenas referencias que me han dado amigos y grandes lectores.

En este libro “El infierno imbécil y otras visitas a Estados Unidos” Martin Amis hace un arriesgado intento de mostrar solo un poco lo que puede ser un país tan complejo como los Estados Unidos de América ya que en sus propias palabras no es solo un país, en realidad es un mundo completo y mucho mas enrevesado de lo que se piensa o se conoce, Amis muestra una muy selecta parte de personajes públicos que van desde políticos, músicos, directores y por supuesto una gran gama de escritores que bien para el momento en que se escribe cada reseña se encuentran en el pico mas alto de su carrera o en una lenta caída de los altares de la fama y la gloria.

De esta manera Martin Amis se pasea cómodamente por autores como Saul Bellow quien se encuentra en la búsqueda de la gran novela americana, la hermosa crónica para un genio ya en decadencia y casi falleciendo como Truman Capote, un análisis muy interesante sobre el trabajo llevado por Philip Roth y su relación con las mujeres dentro de sus libros, la violencia no solo literaria de un Norman Mailer uno de esos autores que supo ser él mismo violencia literaria en vida lleno de anécdotas como la pelea con podría decirse que su casi némesis Gore Vidal, un estrambótico Rey del Rock como Elvis Presley, el impresionante trabajo como director y la precisión que siempre buscaba dentro del set de filmación Brian De Palma dándonos de regalo todas sus grandes obras llenas de corrupción, sangre, dinero y sexo, por otro lado Martin Amis visita en el mejor momento de su carrera a Steven Spielberg con sus éxitos “E.T”, “Indiana Jones” y “Tiburón”, otros que hay que mencionar son William S. Burroughs, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut y la intensidad literaria según las propias palabras de Amis arrancándose libros de su propio cuerpo mientras escribe una Joan Didion, las elecciones y la política de un Ronald Reagan antes de ser presidente, finalmente encontramos algunas crónicas de hechos lamentables ocurridos en la Norteamérica de esos años donde el racismo era parte de ello.

“El infierno imbécil” es un trabajo interesante de ensayos y crónicas periodistas que muestran en palabras una clara radiografía de la sociedad estadounidense de esos años, que quizás no haya cambiado mucho ante la realidad actual pero si es un libro muy interesante que muestra con mirada de extranjero a estos personajes tan variados y que cada uno de ellos ha pasado a la historia, algunos llegando a ser referencia obligatoria de los últimos 40 años.

“El infierno imbécil”
Martin Amis
Editado por Ediciones Península (2014)
315 páginas

[Jameson Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a misnomer as this book is more than 50% reviews of books written by American authors. I much more enjoyed the essays, especially those on Hugh Hefner and his Playboy "empire" as well as Gore Vidal and Jerry Falwell.

Amis also delves into the AIDS crisis in 1985. It's a powerful, and early, call for sympathy, understanding, and action. And a rebuke of close-minded heterosexuals who see AIDS as solely a gay problem and disease. (Though Amis does engage in stereotyping gay men as hyper-promiscuous and dismisses monogamous gay couples as a "myth".)

Amis' droll wit and keenly deployed sarcastic-to-scathing pen provide great insight into a period of America (Elvis Presley in sad, grotesque decline, the rise of Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority) I came of age in. The book reviews are quite good and expansive but I can't help but feel a little cheated that Amis' reflections on America weren't more numerous.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amis is perhaps the best wordsmith on the planet. As much as I do enjoy his novels, I possibly like his nonfiction even more. Inferno is a collection of articles Amis wrote in the late 70s and 1980s for magazines and newspapers like The Guardian and The Observer. It is mostly interviews and book reviews, but Amis put it together in such a way that it fits thematically.

So, you get Amis's takes on the great writers of our time (Bellow, Vonnegut, Heller, Vidal, Capote, Mailer, Updike) and some of the more interesting characters of the times (Reagan, Elvis, Hugh Hefner, Brian de Palma). The only drawback is that the book will be too dated for some (25 years since it has been published, and longer since the articles were written), but an interesting read in many ways, and recommended for those who like writers writing about writers.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amis works best as a hired hand; his wordplay continues to prance around the margins, but his often noxious biases and tired jokes are balanced by the demands of the limited word-count. This early volume is much more enjoyable in its eclecticism, not to mention far more prescient, than Visiting Mrs. Nabokov, and page-by-page of a higher quality than The War Against Cliche. I still don't understand his success as a novelist...

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was irritated by the title until I realized he was quoting Saul Bellow...

[Dominic H · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fitting that this wonderful collection starts and ends with Saul Bellow, given its title. Bellow tells Amis that he took the phrase 'Moronic Inferno' from Wyndham Lewis but it is so deeply Bellovian and fits the mindset of Charlie Citrine, who uses it in Bellow's 'Humboldt's Gift', so perfectly that I want to carry on believing it has its genesis there. It's also of course a phrase with real Amisian resonance, a perfect description of the universes of 'Money', 'London Fields' and 'The Information'. This collection of Amis's high class literary journalism is contemporaneous with 'Money' and shows how lucky we were to open the LRB or 'The Observer' in the mid 1980s and find Amis given luxurious capacity for his very considerable critical gifts. As I have said before in these 'pages', I think Amis could easily have had a notable career as a literary critic without ever writing a word of fiction and this, his first collection, shows him at his absolute best, not just delivering astute, beautifully, entertainingly, written pieces on the usual suspects - Updike, Capote, Vonnegut, Didion, Burroughs but branching more widely: we see him memorably with Brian de Palma, on the Reagan campaign trail, encountering Spielberg and experiencing the Evangelical right. But the book as I say starts and ends with Bellow. At the beginning is a brilliant, razor sharp review of The Dean's December (which has a later piece on 'Him with His Foot in His Mouth' bolted on) where he anatomises the beginnings of 'late Bellow'. At the end is a piece where he meets Bellow for the first time for an interview. This would become a warm and important relationship for both of them, but it's deeply touching how Amis is transparently nervous at meeting the great man, suddenly vulnerable in a collection where hitherto he has displayed (with complete justification) a raucous confidence and authority. I hope Amis would be touched to know his loss is felt by those who value what he calls 'high style' just as acutely as that of Bellow's was years before.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America" is a brilliantly insightful and incisively witty commentary on American culture and society. In these essays, Amis turns his discerning eye to a broad range of subjects, from the Hollywood film industry to the Reagan presidency, providing a distinctive outsider's perspective on the United States. The book earns a well-deserved five-star rating for its sharp observations, engaging prose, and enduring relevance.

Amis's essays, originally published in various British newspapers and magazines, reflect his experiences during his many visits to the U.S. His subjects are diverse, including profiles of American authors like Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, examinations of the porn industry, and critiques of American politics. Throughout, Amis combines reportage, cultural commentary, and personal reflections to paint a vivid and often unsettling picture of America.

Amis's writing in "The Moronic Inferno" is sharp, witty, and engaging. His prose is fluid and evocative, and his observations are astute and insightful. Whether he's describing the surreal excesses of Las Vegas, examining the contradictions of American politics, or critiquing the superficiality of Hollywood, Amis's voice is always distinctive and compelling. His knack for capturing the absurd and the profound in American life is unparalleled.

Moreover, despite the time that has passed since these essays were written, they remain strikingly relevant. Many of the issues Amis addresses, from the influence of money in politics to the cult of celebrity, continue to shape American society. Reading "The Moronic Inferno" today, one is struck by Amis's prescience and his ability to discern the enduring aspects of American culture.

In conclusion, "The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America" is a masterful collection of essays that provides a distinctive and compelling perspective on American culture and society. Amis's sharp observations, engaging prose, and enduring relevance make this book a must-read, earning it a well-deserved five-star rating. Whether you're a fan of Amis's fiction or a newcomer to his work, "The Moronic Inferno" offers a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the United States.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of articles written about American issues and writers, mostly writers (Bellow, Mailer, Vidal, Didion, Talese, Capote...). Some of these articles are interesting despite the sizable amount of time that has already passed. Don't be fooled by the title , this is no more a condemnation of America than any other place and it is plucked out of one of Bellows writings to describe, well, America. But there's a lot more here than just a sprinkle of snobbish Brit superiority or general dismay at the state of affairs. In retrospect, it still fits here in the US but wouldn't be out of place in London. Some of the issues (and writers) have now started to recede in prominence and some are still relevant today but Martin Amis has great command of how to build a phrase, and of vocabulary in particular.. he uses top shelf words with elegant precision (lionize, etiolation, doltish..) That accompanied with his incisive gifts of perception, psychological and physical, makes for great reading. There are some gems among these articles: the Televangelists, Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion, the AIDS crisis, Steven Spielberg, The disappearance of black kids in Atlanta. If you just read those, you've gotten a good return on your investment and can skip the rest but you might not want to.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

amis is so good, especially on other writers. the best/most memorable essays here are about (his visits with) truman capote and gore vidal; also diana trilling and kurt vonnegut and gay talese. and steven spielberg and hugh hefner and william burroughs.

when he writes about social/political issues it can feel like there’s too much style there, which can get in the way of the meaning. if your goal is understanding rather than aesthetic pleasure, you might be better off reading a less brilliant writer.

the essay on joan didion is i think the weakest of these essays - he thinks she thinks “style is character,” and he doesn’t like that, and he thinks her “the center wasn’t holding” bit from slouching toward bethlehem shows she misses the big picture (the center has never held and never will). you wind up liking didion less but also feeling like amis can be a jerk.

the essay on the aids crisis (written 1985) is weird, largely redeemed by his postscript.

a lot of great writing here, mostly based on amis’s very attentive and energetic reading or his cleverly-recounted interviews with cultural icons.

[Christopher Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

One could argue that I came to this book twenty years too late. Afterall, Amis's essays concern America in the early to mid 1980s, and presumably a lot has changed. But as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that is particularly true, it seems, of America.

Amis witnesses the birth, one might say, of the Evangelist Right in America; it is with us still, and just as strong. Amis writes about the television personality being moulded and twisted by handlers and outside interests to become President Reagan; here we are, fortunately spared in 2008 of a McCain presidency.

Amis writes about the cultural legends of the time: Capote, Vidal, Mailer; and of their excesses. Are there not now legends written about Amis himself in the same vein?

Throughout this motley collection of learned articles, Amis's humour is constant: witty, acerbic, biting, and always spot-on. Even though the topics are old, the writing has not aged and remains as scintillating today as on its original publication.

[Sebastiaan Nijland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that the title “The Moronic Inferno: And Other Visits to America” works to the book’s disadvantage. What is meant here is that those expecting a travel report — akin to Baudrillard's “America” and Umberto Eco's “Travels in Hyperreality” — are likely to leave this book disappointed. Instead, America offers no more than a backdrop for journalistic reporting and interviews conducted by Amin in the ‘80s, most often with or about prominent writers of the latter half of the 20th century; the title 'The Business of Writing About Writers', which appears in an essay towards the end of the book, would, in my opinion, have suited better.

It is not to say that ‘The Moronic Inferno’ is therefore lacking in quality; it is, in fact, the opposite. The vocabulary is monolithic, the phrasing is both descriptive and lucid, and the choice of topics is varied and interesting; the Reagan, Hefner, and Aids pieces being of immense quality.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

These essays and critiques seem more to be about Martin Amis than about the subjects themselves. His authorial voice is everpresent searching for the dry probing observation or bon mot.

Because of this, it's not a book to be read all at once. The style can get grating very fast, especially with the inveterate name-dropping.

Also the criticisms and insights never feel particularly deep or rewarding. They are merely observations from someone who thinks he is clever. They're entertaining-ish, but not revolutionary.

It's a moderately fun read if chopped up and used as light puffery from a hot-aired friend. Not necessarily for me, but not bad.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, Martin Amis writes beautifully and interestingly. Unfortunately, many of the essays herein are simply dated and of little interest outside of academic circles.

By far the most interesting pieces are literary criticism but even these are somehow limited, often only applying to a minor work of a great author. Or just applying to a rather receding literary figure like Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer, well known but little read.

[Vanyo666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Amis's book reviews of American authors in the late 70's and up to the mid-eighties fail to portray America in any significant way, even if they are occasionally entertaining. One has to wonder at the chutzpah of the Brit enfant terrible taking up authors and politicians, and he certainly has a way with a turn of phrase. The pieces where you don't know the book or the character feel dated and boring.

[Lisa]

I picked this up for the Martin Chronicles podcast, and... it's... really of its time. Which is not so much a problem or anything, but I think I would have been maybe interested in reading it at the time, but now it just felt historical to me, about things/people I'm not particularly interested in. This made me reflect on what stands the test of time and what contemporary writing I'm reading that would be of little/less interest in 40 years or so.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a generous rating on my scale. It's difficult to imagine how these essays might have read in their time, but today they seem like faded photographs of loose acquaintances from the 1970's - of limited utility or entertainment now. I was just trying to get sense of Amis' style and am sufficiently interested now to perhaps try some of his more substantive work in the future.

[Ava Stael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering I know little about 80s literature and pop culture, this was a great starting point. Martin Amis is an excellent writer and got me excited about things I know nothing about. Particularly loved the Norman Mailer and AIDS chapters.

[Lachlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of Americana. From Elvis to Updike, with a long stop-over in California, where Joan Didion, Hugh Hefner, Steven Spielberg, and others are subjected to Amis's close reading and high style.

[Miles Isham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breeze to get through. Funny, frightening and prophetic, Marty’s musings on the American condition in the early 1980’s could have been written today, or tomorrow. Things haven’t changed, they have just intensified. Highlights are the visits with Capote and Vidal but it’s all terrific stuff.

[Peter Landau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Amis was the rage with the cool kids in the ’80s. I loved his novel Money, but never read more of his books, until now. The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America is smart and fun, but I hear it with an annoying upper-crust English accent.

[David Gagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some brilliantly written articles here. Amis the essayist occasionally surpasses Amis the novelist. Sometimes he writes a sentence that demands to be read a few times just to enjoy the sheer genius of his wit & language. Add half a star.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although all the essays here are on American subjects, they were initially written for readers of newspapers like The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph , and thus for a British audience. In that context, one would expect the essays to reflect some cultural bias; indeed, insofar as Amis, a British writer, was writing for a British reader, a certain amount of cultural bias would be appropriate. However, as most of the subjects Amis writes about depict some of the less flattering aspects of American culture, it is difficult to determine how much cultural bias these essays actually reflect: while such topics as Elvis Presley’s final years, Brian Depalma’s gore-spattered films, the “televangelist” industry and a representation of the aging Hugh Hefner certainly function to call attention to differences between American and British culture, and even to reflect something of the way that the former is viewed within the latter, it is difficult not to feel in addition that the celebrity excesses Amis describes in fact emblematize for him something essential about the American experience. Honi soit qui mal y pense .

While one might accuse him of snobbery and leave it at that, I think it may be more accurate to say that Amis is lacking awe with regard to those aspects of American culture about which he writes. It is because of this that Amis is able to write about American celebrity culture with such understanding (the distinction I am making here is that a “snob” would not make the effort to understand that which he or she is criticizing). Thus, although there were instances in which Amis was finding negative things to say about other writers whose work I enjoy, I often found myself nodding in agreement with his representations.

Nor is all of it negative. Amis has some positive things to say about the work of writers like John Updike and Saul Bellow. Indeed, in his essay about Gloria Steinem, Amis seems to be making extra efforts to defend her, for instance from stereotypes about feminists.

One thing that might keep one from reading it is that the book is rather dated. In the thirty years since Amis wrote the essays, Ronald Reagan has served two terms as president of the United States, Philip Roth has written many more novels and Steven Spielberg has made many more films. Indeed, some of the essays may have seemed dated at the time Amis originally wrote them: I doubt that the things he said about about Elvis’s death or about Norman Mailer’s or Truman Capote’s public personae were still new even in 1980. On the other hand, it can be interesting to see how little things have changed in the last thirty years: Hugh Hefner seems now, in his eighties, to be living the same kind of life he was in his fifties.

However, if you’re not looking for a book about current events and like Amis’s writing style and are interested in his opinions with regard to writers like Kurt Vonnegut, William S. Burroughs, Joseph Heller and Norman Mailer, this is a good one to pick up. He has some interesting ideas about how Roth’s work is organized, as well as a penetrating analysis of Joan Didion’s rhetorical structures in her book of essays, WHITE ALBUM. In its simultaneous employment of the styles and approaches both of the gossipy tabloid and the serious literary analysis, the book is both intellectual exercise and guilty pleasure.

Acquired May 28, 2010
Vintage Books, Vancouver WA