A bad review that make me want to read the book.

Compare Kakutani:

Vanessa Cole is a parody of the crazy femme fatale, a woman, Mr. Banks would have us believe, so beautiful that men are willing to overlook her obvious mental illness.

with Bad New Hughes:

Sure, she’s good-lookin’. She’s also crazy. Crazy as a shithouse rat. Run for your life.

I’m with Uncle Patrick on this one. Parody? Hah.

While looking to see if the NYRB had weighed in on Mr. Banks’ latest, I came across:

In Japan neglected or abandoned blogs are called ishikoro, pebbles. *

Completely unrelated to Banks, but too nice a word to pass unmentioned.