These essays are mainly revised versions of pieces Gilbert Adair wrote for the Sun- day Times, and that is the rub: he is an excellent columnist, but the time- span of journalism and book-writing is different, so that many or most of the essays appear just too short to pursue their themes to the finish. He is, however, lively, opinionated and with a knack of hitting his subjects in their vulnerable areas. There is a good deal about films, on culture in general, on poetry (for instance, Keats versus Bob Dylan), on topical art-cant, on journalism, even on personalities such as Mae West.
Subject to the reservations already stated, this is a worthwhile collection by a lively intelligence.
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