Books, Arts & Manners: Modern Times

Some Survived, by Manny Lawton (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 295 pp., $16.95)

General rule: Be wary of books recommended by reviewers as must reading. A reviewer who asseverates that a given book must be read is saying, more often than not, “You might find this tedious, but it’s for your own good”—e.g., most books written by John Hersey, all books written by Jonathan Schell.

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Victor Gold

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Some Survived, by Manny Lawton (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 295 pp., $16.95)

General rule: Be wary of books recommended by reviewers as must reading. A reviewer who asseverates that a given book must be read is saying, more often than not, “You might find this tedious, but it’s for your own good”—e.g., most books written by John Hersey, all books written by Jonathan Schell.