Book blurbs — the most unreliable literary form since cigarette advertisements — are particularly misleading when it comes to comic fiction. For examples, I need look no further than a new debut novel titled “Dead Souls,” by Sam Riviere. One of the many enthusiastic blurbs describes it as “gut-wrenchingly funny.” In fact, “Dead Souls” is an extraordinarily cerebral satire — almost 300 pages written as a single paragraph — about the culture of British poetry. Even someone recovering from stomach surgery could safely read it without any risk of “gut-wrenching.”

Source: Washington Post May 27, 2021 12:56 UTC