Hang Onto Your Ego

Why do some book reviewers think that we actually care about them? Are their egos so massive that they believe we're interested in their quirks and obsessions? In Bruce Handy's New York Times book review of "Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson" by Peter Ames Carlin, it's all about Mr. Handy. Brian who? Let's talk about Mr. Handy. He's been collecting lots of rock bios about the Beatles and Dylan, and he cares about Ringo trivia and even talks about Jack Black before mentioning Brian. Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you? Mr. Handy does get around to B.W. but only until about halfway through the article. And when he does, he rehashes the same old B.W. plot points (genius, madness, failure, cleanup). This book has received rave reviews from hardcore B.W. fans on blogs and message boards, but if I had read only the NYT review, I would have disregarded it. If you're interested in some insightful analysis of "Catch a Wave," check out Uncanny's posts on the book.