Two voices vie in this book. There is the voice we recognize in the reviews: the professor, stately and composed, guiding the reader through forensically close readings of the text, pointing out fiction’s innovations and revolutions.

In the unspooling sentences and paragraphs of the many fine and often seriously dandy essays... Wood shows himself a maestro of tone and inflection. His sustained close attention as he interrogates the writers he loves is genuinely something to behold. There is playfulness in this attention – Wood is drawn to droll comedy as the most reliable form of wisdom – but you would rarely conclude that he has let his instincts off the leash of his intellect.

James Wood, haters claim, is a hater.

... a feast for the intellectually horny.

In its entirety this is a masterful 'greatest hits' collection.

... a feast for the intellectually horny.

Wood...offers another selection of his incisive work; only a half-dozen pieces here have not appeared in previous collections. Those familiar with the author’s style will not find much surprising in that regard.