What happens when a humor writer pens a novel intended to be both comedic and dramatic? In the case of John Kenney, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, the comedy sparkles while the drama proves formulaic and predictable. It is as though the author, already gravid with mordant one-liners, snappy banter, and hilarious workplace scenarios, decides he also wants to birth an emotionally riveting tale, a task for which he is unprepared.
An indistinct yet no less burdensome cloud of malaise has settled on the not-very-broad shoulders of Finbar Dolan, narrator of “Truth in Advertising.” For Fin, born and bred in Boston, the sheen of New York has dulled considerably since his arrival eight years ago. He also feels unfulfilled professionally. A copywriter at a major Manhattan ad agency, Fin laments, “I make the commercials wherein you turn the sound down or run to the toilet.”
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Weird stuff. The reviewer says that ``the reason for the father’s violent rage proves unoriginal: His harrowing experiences in World War II forever scarred him.'' Oh, dear. So the millions scarred by WWII experiences should simply get over it? Or does then author have to come up with somethhing originial as oppsoed to credible? Maybe the father fell off the Empire State building and landed in a truck loaded with foam rubber yet his head trauma caused him to be abusive. That would be original wouldn't it. But here's the other weird thing about this review: The book is squarely set in modern-day American culture -- advertising, New York, dysfunctional families etc. And yet we have an individual from Beirut writing the review. Is it possible the reviewer missed a cultural subtlety or two? Are there no reviewers better suited to writing about a very American novel? None available between Boston a Lebanon? This is just another indication of how off the Globe is in so many ways. Just enough cockeyed to make a difference. It's sad.
This is a book about Margaret Fuller???
This review is BAD. And the Globe couldn't find a local or better recognized critic to print? I'd actually have to say that the review is so off the mark that it has piqued my interest in the book because much of the so-called "criticism" in the review doesn't seem to merit the negative take that the reviewer gives it.
Are you guys commenting on a different review?
Feminism is a wonderful and enlightening movement, But I constructively criticize feminists for calling this great lady "Margaret Fuller." Once married, she always called herself "Margaret Fuller Ossoli." It's not a sin for a feminist woman to fall in love and then adopt her husband's surname.