Review by Kirkus Book Review
A decade of sharp observations. Booker Prize--winning novelist Enright offers an eclectic gathering of 24 shrewd, acerbic essays--all but two previously published--ranging from memoir to literary and cultural criticism to takes on politics and society. She pays homage to writers she admires, among them, the Australian Helen Garner; Toni Morrison; Margaret Atwood, whom she discovered while a student at an international school in Vancouver; and the "great Irish icon" Edna O'Brien. For Enright, O'Brien was a pathfinder, who "lived through times that were appalling for some women and unpleasant for all. She was the lightning rod: her work cleared the air." She considers the scandal that surrounded Alice Munro, who protected her husband after her daughter accused him of sexual abuse. Even in light of disturbing revelations, Enright admits, "I cannot take back my great love for her work." Enright has much to say about the #MeToo movement, notably the response of many men, whose "understanding of what they had done and of the effects of their actions was tragically limited." In Honduras, where Enright went to write about an Irish aid agency, she riffs on the lure of escaping one's ego. In Vienna for a book festival, she was taken on a tour of Freud's house. A shadow on the wall where his couch once stood "made the hair on the nape of my neck stand to." As did his bedroom, where he and his wife slept and, no doubt, dreamt. A biking trip with her husband, from Vienna to Slovenia and Croatia, inspires her to recall previous trips to Venice and also to reflect on her long marriage to a man who "lives in a benign universe. I do not." A witty, perceptive collection. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
