Shriver splashes...icy water all over and it’s very bracing; as I read, I thought of those scientists who tell us that a daily cold shower can help to boost the human immune system. It feels ever more vital to me...that people try sometimes to read writers with whom they disagree.

Predictable.

This piece, like several others in Abominations, reveals a tender side to Ms. Shriver. In print she is formidable—she is unfailingly formidable—but evidently she has feelings like the rest of us.

Lionel Shriver is not a troll. For one thing, she has no sense of humour – at least, none that is evident from her work. For another, she is indeed a boomer – self-described. And for another, she enjoys thinking of herself as a contrarian.

Bounces from merely thought-provoking to certifiably mind-blowing.

Lionel Shriver brings her bristling sharp wit and open heart and mind to this explosive array of work.

Sharp, witty.

Hit-or-miss.