The Joy of Sex?

The Rachel Papers By Martin Amis

Knopf, 228 pp., $5.95 As a reader of British magazines and newspapers, such as The New Statesman, The Listener, and The Observer, I’ve come to admire and look forward to the work of Martin Amis, a conspicuous newcomer to the ranks of British book reviewers. What is surprising about Mr. Amis is that at 24 he already possesses the authority and sophistication that most reviewers take years to acquire (perhaps his gifts were inherited—he is the son of novelists Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard). In recent months he has produced some first-rate pieces, including very perceptive reviews of John Carey’s Dickens study and Iris Murdoch’s new novel for the year.

RF

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Ronald De Feo

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The Rachel Papers By Martin Amis

Knopf, 228 pp., $5.95 As a reader of British magazines and newspapers, such as The New Statesman, The Listener, and The Observer, I’ve come to admire and look forward to the work of Martin Amis, a conspicuous newcomer to the ranks of British book reviewers. What is surprising about Mr. Amis is that at 24 he already possesses the authority and sophistication that most reviewers take years to acquire (perhaps his gifts were inherited—he is the son of novelists Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard). In recent months he has produced some first-rate pieces, including very perceptive reviews of John Carey’s Dickens study and Iris Murdoch’s new novel for the year.