Tompkins has chronic illness (ME) and subsequently, can't do much but read. She writes here about her interaction with a handful of books, most by Naipaul and Theroux. I really enjoyed the first third or so, but became tired of hearing about these two writers - neither of them seemed like people I would ever want to know in real life - and I wanted Tompkins to start talking about the other writers that were mentioned in the ad-copy!

I did appreciate the author's self-reflection and her thoughts on chronic illness, since I have Lyme disease and could relate to the fatigue and limitations. I could also relate to envy and pride, a few themes in the book. There are some nuggets here, to be sure. Plus, I walked away with several book recommendations! ( )

Normally this kind of a book would be like an excellent, strong cheese and a dark beer for a book nerd like me. Yet, I felt a distance to her writing from cover to cover. As it’s been some time since I read the book, and my notes about it have been scattered to the winds, I will write no more. ( )