My review of Jonathan Ames’ The Double Life is Twice As Good is in today’s LA Times books pages. The book is not so great, and I couldn’t help but think that his publisher wanted to have an Ames collection on shelves which included the story “Bored to Death” by the time the HBO series based on it (starring Jason Schwatrzman) premieres this fall. Not only to the pieces fail to say much of anything, but old diary entries and an email are included — filler-style odds and ends. I wish the book had been great; Ames generously gave me an interview when I was a struggling podcaster, and was very kind, too. Such is the sucky job of a critic, though: you’ve got to be critical.
On another note, I got to talk about works-after-death for an article that appears in today’s Observer. There’s a major upcoming release by Nabakov (the long-secreted The Original of Laura), a re-do of Hemingway’s A Movable Feast, and a few others, including Graham Greene’s first (unfinished) novel. The Strand Magazine gave Jacket Copy a peek at Graham Greene’s effort — sort of an Agatha Christie knock-off — and I got to chime in about what the dead-guy-book pile-on means.
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