When I saw the title of Keith Gessen's novel, All the Sad Young Literary Men, I placed this book in my "definitely not interested" list.  I don't usually dismiss books based on their titles, but my gut instinct with this book was, if it sounds like a pretentious, navel-gazing novel, it probably is.  Besides, I met many of these sad young literary men when studying for my MFA and was not impressed.  The ones who claimed to be literary were usually the ones most in love with the sound of their own voices and less interested in reading than in sucking up to the latest author-of-the-day who happened to be visiting our campus. So, like it or not, there's where I stand when it comes to the subject of sad young literary men.  

Having no interest in this book, I skipped the Sunday New York Times book review of this book from April 13 (see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/books/review/O-Hagan-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).  I thought I was home-free but then this book turned up in the Style Section of this past Sunday's New York Times ( see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/fashion/27gessen.html?ref=style).  If I was doubting my decision to cancel my Sunday NYT subscription (see my blog post of 31 March 2008), seeing this article wiped away those doubts.    

First of all, let me say that I've never been quite sure of the purpose of the New York Times Sunday Style Section.  At times it reads as fluffy as Oprah Magazine with its essays about bad dates and bad marriages.  Then there's the throwback to some ancient NY social register with wedding announcements and photos of the latest fashion trends.  Then it tries to capture the hip bar scene -- what everybody is drinking and where.  You even find the latest face creams and advice on what to buy you mother for mother's day.  And occassionally, books slip into its pages, books that lack substance but have plenty of PR buzz.  

The angle of the Style Section piece about Keith Gessen seemed to be:  "See the sad young literary man who's written about other sad young literary men."   How touching to read about Gessen bidding a fond farewell to his Sunday football game buddies so he can go off on his book tour!  Oh, and then the article threw in a juicy tidbit about Gessen's feud with Dave Eggers (of McSweeney's,  The Believer, etc.).  Readers love a rebel.  That'll get them to buy Gessen's book for sure.  This article did prompt me to go back to the April 13th book review.  I loved Andrew O'Hagan's opening line:  "Literary editors who write novels are like princesses who get involved in the manufacture of tiaras: they want a piece of the action, sure, but also they must want to play a more invigorating part in creating the dazzle that defines them."  Gessen as princess -- perfect! Too bad O'Hagan had to follow the feeble New York Times book review formula of plot summary with little substance, though I applaud his sly use of book excerpts -- clearly, O'Hagan was less than impressed with this book and struggled to find something nice to say.  Here's the best he could do:  "Complications abound, and some of them are the book’s fault, but Gessen’s style is good-natured and ripe enough to allow a satisfying sweetness to exist in these characters as they journey around the carnival of their own selfishness. "  Perhaps this Style article was written as some kind of penance by the NYT to Gessen's publisher -- "Sorry, we came up short on the hard sell of your man's book in our book review.  Here ... we'll throw in a Style Section piece that might sell some more books."  (Lately, my cynicism when it comes to the New York Times is boundless.)

So, while  NYT failed to convince me that this book was worth reading, they did further convince me that they are in business of selling books, not critiquing them.  How sad for writers and those of us interested in literary criticism.  Perhaps it's a good thing if newspapers like the NYT get out of the book reviewing business:  why do something if you're not going to do it well.  The good news is the field is now wide open for fresh voices eager to create a new paradigm for contemporary literary criticism -- time for shameless plug -- like the voices in the ezine Open Letters.