Second Reading: Notable and Neglected Books Revisited

By Jonathan Yardley

This collection of reviews and reevaluations by Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Jonathan Yardley considers lesser-known works from renowned authors and underappreciated talents, and offers fresh takes on old favorites. Yardley’s reviews of sixty titles include fiction by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, John Cheever, and Henry Fielding; the autobiography of Louis Armstrong; essays by Nora Ephron; and Margaret Leach’s history of Washington during the Civil War. Second Reading is also the memoir of a passionate and lifelong reader told through the books that have meant the most to him. Playing the part of both reviewer and bibliophile, Yardley takes on Steinbeck and Salinger, explores the southern fiction of Shirley Ann Grau and Eudora Welty, looks into a darker side of Roald Dahl and praises the pulp fiction of William Bradford Huie and the crime novels of John McDonald.

Collected from a popular Washington Post column of the same name, Second Reading is an incisive and entertaining look at the career and times of an esteemed critic and the venerable books that shaped him. This delightful consideration reminds readers that thoughtful criticism and a lively sense of fun can exist side by side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jun 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9781609459246

Reviews for Second Reading

[debnance_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Second Reading is a book-about-books, and its all about taking a second look at my kind of books. Book critic Jonathan Yardley pulls books from his bookshelf that he read twenty, thirty, forty years ago and rereads them. Most of these are small books, almost forgotten now, and I love it that he brings his magnifying glass to each of these rather than the big bestsellers that are always in the limelight anyway. Yardley's tastes run a bit more to suspense and adventure than mine do, but I was still able to write down lots of titles on my wish list and that's always nice.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Yardley was a Washington DC book critic for decades, most of those years falling during the 70s/early 80s, when I was too young to read his columns. But I recognized the name and, when I saw this at last year's National Book Festival, picked up a copy, thinking I'd enjoy this collection of his essays on "notable and neglected texts" as a work of literary criticism and maybe pick up some good reading recommendations at the same time.What I found is that all literary criticism is not alike. Yardley's prose is serviceable, and his research on the works he critiques sufficiently comprehensive, but everything - from the books he chose to the nature of his comments - is tinged with a strong 60s/70s literary/cultural bias that I found offputting. I suppose literary critics are as much a product of their times as the books they review, but 60s/70s literature is definitely over-represented here, and is it really necessary that *every* book be scrutinized through the lens of 60s/70s culture (feminism, racism, class consciousness, the sexual revolution)?I was also put off by Yardley's personality. He talks rather a lot about himself, his life, and his values in the course of these reviews, and the picture he paints is (I presume unintentionally) unflattering. He comes off as bitter, petty, self-aggrandizing and somewhat condescending, which was probably another reason why I found it difficult to let my guard down and entrust myself to his judgment.As I am not a particular fan of 70s culture or literature, I found little here of value. (Of the ~70 books reviewed here, I may read 4-5 ... and I'm pretty open-minded.) Maybe I'm 10 years too young? Any 60yr olds out there want to give this a try and contradict me?