http://calitreview.com/274 Book reviews, essays, and author interviews. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:56:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://calitreview.com/274/comment-page-1#comment-7545 Edwin Rivera Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:49:38 +0000 http://calitreview.com/2007/10/23/the-brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao-by-junot-diaz/#comment-7545 Why are you pulling punches, tapdancing around the truth, refusing to stamp the consequential and primary thought that seems to linger on the tip of your tongue, one that seems to stand out like a kid teetering on his father's shoulders, trying to get a better view--namely, that the book was a mess! There are more flaws than an uncut diamond, and more fat than a fast-food bonanza. Are critics displaying blushing kindness and aw-shucks sweetness because the writer happens to be Latino? It's not like he's an endangered species. After all, there are far more of us coming, and ones that know how turn a phrase and care about narrative form, studying the craft with the careful eye of an artisan. Do we need to restart an old discussion, and look to redig the bones of one of the greats of criticism, Edmund Wilson? Because if that is what it takes to bring honesty and integrity and passion into the literary field, I will strive with every fiber to invent the scientifc apparatus necessary to bring the old curmudgeon back to intelligent life. Of course, I'd rather write, but seriously, this field is in trouble. Why are you pulling punches, tapdancing around the truth, refusing to stamp the consequential and primary thought that seems to linger on the tip of your tongue, one that seems to stand out like a kid teetering on his father’s shoulders, trying to get a better view–namely, that the book was a mess! There are more flaws than an uncut diamond, and more fat than a fast-food bonanza. Are critics displaying blushing kindness and aw-shucks sweetness because the writer happens to be Latino? It’s not like he’s an endangered species. After all, there are far more of us coming, and ones that know how turn a phrase and care about narrative form, studying the craft with the careful eye of an artisan. Do we need to restart an old discussion, and look to redig the bones of one of the greats of criticism, Edmund Wilson? Because if that is what it takes to bring honesty and integrity and passion into the literary field, I will strive with every fiber to invent the scientifc apparatus necessary to bring the old curmudgeon back to intelligent life. Of course, I’d rather write, but seriously, this field is in trouble.

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