first impressions: Poor Man's Provence

[nibot]

I started reading Poor Man's Provence (part of Baton Rouge's "One Book One Community" thing) yesterday, having finished the mammoth Team of Rivals. I haven't read far enough yet to have been hooked into the story, but immediately I am struck by the plunge in quality of writing; the composition feels poorly assembled, malnourished, strung together by clichés. The sentence "The Atchafalaya is the largest river overflow swamp in all of North America and the largest contiguous forested wetland in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain" was a fresh breeze of clarity, but then it was quickly negated with the explanation, "I read that somewhere and am not all that sure what it means." Also: I'm tired of reading books about the South written by Yankees on vacation.

It does remind me that I have been negligent in getting out to see the Atchafalaya and "cajun country" just west of here.

Comments

[cherryspecial.livejournal.com]

I'm tired of reading books about the South written by Yankees on vacation.

The best book about America's fledgling democracy was written by a Frenchman on vacation! Sometimes it takes an outside perspective... not that you're not right about this book - I haven't read it.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Erratum: The author of PMP is hardly a 'yankee'; she's from Atlanta(?).