clock … watching time, the only true currency

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Home in New England by Brock Clarke amused me with witty, wonderful language. But the story’s absurdity left me disconnected and uncaring about the outcome. I still laughed (to myself) at different scenes and phrasings, but the book never rose above the humor. It’s high-end literary humor, to be sure — Amherst, Massachusetts and its collegiate surroundings are skewered — but that’s not enough.

Why did the NYTimes review the book twice, once by Janet Maslin and then again by David Bowman in the Sunday Book Review? Maslin shares an opinion; Bowman just describes. Maslin’s take:

Eventually overplotted to the point of overkill, “An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England”…still manages to remain sharp-edged and unpredictable, punctuated by moments of choice absurdist humor.