Don’t Read This!

Charles Taylor of the Newark Star-Ledger has some fun with some of the things that a book lover is best advised to avoid when searching for a new book to read:

              Any book with jacket copy that includes the words “searing,” “rollicking” or “an indictment.”

“The Catcher in the Rye.”

              Any novel described as “this generation’s `The Catcher in the Rye.”’

              Any mystery featuring a cat and not written by John Harvey.

              Any “literary” author’s attempt at a mystery.

And my favorite, “any genre book whose chief claim to virtue is that it “transcends the

genre,” implying that the author doesn’t have much interest in the very

things you were picking it up for.”