Charles McGrath

Any time you make a review or release anything to the world, you make a snapshot of a particular time and sensibility. The smallest thing can affect the mood of the reviewer; perhaps they did not have breakfast that morning, or maybe they never really liked a particular genre or idea. In any case, whenever something is published or printed, it becomes dated in several weeks. With the advent of the internet, this turnover rate has increased further, to the point where I don’t know what is show more hip with the kids of today.

Books of the Century is a collection of reviews, interviews, essays and short pieces called first impressions from the New York Times Book Review Column. The main thing that this shows is that no person or reviewer is infallible. They may dislike or hate something for little reason, or for a huge reason. Starting its coverage back on the date of February 20, 1897, with a review of The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James and ending on October 5, 1997, with a review of Underworld by Don Delillo, the book does indeed cover a century. This fact makes the book an interesting talking point. For instance, there are some reviews of books that were successful but not well received at the time of publication. These are headlined as “Oops.”

The other interesting thing about this book is that it covers reviews of things that I wouldn’t have seen fit to review. For example, one of the reviews is about a collection of Crossword Puzzles. It discusses this “fad” with an air of interest. I guess I just assumed that Crossword Puzzles always existed in newspapers. I never thought of it as having a beginning that one could record. However, given the rise of Sudoku puzzles as of late, I suppose it was naive of me to think in that manner.

Alongside the reviews and all of that are little asides that describe events that happened in the years covered. It mainly covers things that happened in the world of literature. Did you know that 1949 was the first time the reviewer’s name was printed alongside the review? I didn’t, but now I do.

So this book is pretty good. It is not even flawed in the sense that it is printed material since it is a printed collection of reviews on printed material. The meta goes deep with this one. While I wouldn’t be interested in buying it new, I would get it from the library or purchase it secondhand. show less

Charles McGrath, an illustrious writer, produces beautiful prose in The Summer Friend, a memoir of friendship and summer. He narrates everything that has made summers special throughout his life. He begins by describing the fond memories of the summer family vacations he enjoyed as a child and continues to explain how he created similar experiences for his children and grandchildren.

He introduces his friend, Chip, his wife, and his family early in the story and conveys a great sense of show more camaraderie that the McGrath family had with theirs. The wives and children were compatible, and many family get-togethers, some growing into neighborhood traditions, provided years of enjoyment for all.

Activities included conventional summer fare such as swimming, boating, and golfing. Since the setting was in New England, there was also lobstering, fishing, and fireworks. Chip was creative and inventive as well as competitive. He proposed athletic challenges and silly driveway games that developed into full-blown events that would entertain the families for hours and days. Charles McGrath, also nicknamed Chip, had memorable men-only outings in addition to family times. We know from the novel's beginning that Chip dies young, and this book is a tribute to their friendship and the great value of companionship.
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Selected book reviews, letters, essays, commentary, and Editor's Choice lists from the New York Times Book Review, beginning with Henry James, The Spoils of Poynton, in the Feb. 20, 1897 issue and ending with Don DeLillo. Underworld, in the Oct. 5, 1997 issue. There is an index. In his introduction, Charles McGrath aptly described the book as offering "a vivid, entertaining, and at least occasionally enlightening sense of literary immediancy--of what it was like, of initial and immediate show more reaction, when some of the most important or influential books of the century first came to view." show less

excellent reference book and a great place to start when looking for a book to read.