Reviews for A Ream of writers

The average rating for A Ream of writers based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-06-11 00:00:00 Tim Kavanaugh I'm a Robert Dessaix fan and read almost everything he wrote. This collection of his short works, released in late 90s, shows him at the height of his creative powers. In his nonfiction there he tackles mostly his usual themes - travel, being multilingual, Russia and Russian literature, friendship, love of reading and more. And he does so mostly with focused thoughtfulness, originality and sharp wit (something that in his most recent books became somewhat more diluted). I did though stumble in several places when he voiced some casual, unsupported views that jarred (for example, that women are better at leisure than men, and a brief and cheap shot at Jewish people in another essay that really threw me). Also, the first part that is his fiction was much weaker than the following non-fiction sections. I'd rather if he didn't mix the two. But overall, I emerged richer with thought and insight after finishing this collection.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-12-31 00:00:00 Kelsey Chason I've not read any of Dessaix's better known writing. This is my first encounter. I was not convinced, but not deterred, obviously, by the short stories that open this collection of short form work from the 1990s. As I went on, I liked it more and more. Here's a good passage: "These days, I know, it's common to imagine that since everyone is some kind of cultural or social construct, anyone at all, if reconstructed by professionals, can do anything almost immediately. I see no evidence that any of that is unconditionally true. Creativity is not a craft, but the result of an event. For some it may be a word event, for others a music event or a colour event or a gardening event or an emotional event--are there not creative friendships, for example? If you put yourself in the way of this event by freeing yourself from allegiances and looking around you at the world as if it were constantly, dangerously, mystifyingly new, the work you produce will not be just a cardboard magnet, but will crackle with a real electric charge."