Nash, the famous author of comic verse, used to be pitied by his lit’ry friends because reviewers used to always try to replicate his style in their reviews, viz:

Mr. Ogden Nash has a new book

And I think it’s quite worth a look

Consider, for example, this book review from today’s New York Times. The reviewer, Richard Eder, is no slouch, but gets so carried away with trying to imitate the novelist’s wit, charm, inventiveness, style, irreverence, etc. that it’s hard to tell, you know, what the book is about.

I mean, sure, it’s a stunning rave in the New York Times for a debut novel, which will probably lead to the author forgetting all his friends and quitting his jobs and going off to summer on the Vineyard with Styron and stuff, but honestly, would it be so hard just to write something like, “Novel really good. Go buy it,” signed, the Newspaper of Record?

Just ticks me off.