Books, Arts & Manners: Machine-Age Lit

The Mechanic Muse, by Hugh Kenner (Oxford, 136 pp., $13.95)

The New York Times has already done this brilliant little book the singular honor of two dismissive reviews, both of which deemed it an idiosyncratic trifle. Six hundred pages of heavy thesis, certified by namedropping, footnotes, and maybe an advance blurb from, say, Alfred Kazin (along the lines of “an important contribution . . . a magnificent achievement”), would perhaps have secured it due respect.

JS

About the Author

Joseph Sobran

The Mechanic Muse, by Hugh Kenner (Oxford, 136 pp., $13.95)

The New York Times has already done this brilliant little book the singular honor of two dismissive reviews, both of which deemed it an idiosyncratic trifle. Six hundred pages of heavy thesis, certified by namedropping, footnotes, and maybe an advance blurb from, say, Alfred Kazin (along the lines of “an important contribution . . . a magnificent achievement”), would perhaps have secured it due respect.