You may recall that last fall, I nominated the book for our current reading list. It got some votes, but didn't quite make the cut.
I nominated it largely on the strength of his most famous novel, Fellow Travelers, which we discussed back in 2008. (It was later adapted into an opera and a Paramount limited TV series, both quite enjoyable in different ways.) Now that I actually have the book in hand (which the author kindly autographed for me after the luncheon), and have read the opening section (1983), however, I think we dodged a bullet.
That's not because the book is dull or flawed in any way; Mallon is a fine writer, and I have every intention of finishing it. Rather, I think it would have been difficult to conduct a satisfying discussion of a succession of diary entries--something I probably should have anticipated when deciding whether to nominate it. Mea culpa.
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