Nicely done

"She runs out of breath, and then settles, mysteriously, like an old Bible that italicizes ordinary words, on a single syllable." —David Denby on Julie & Julia

Tracy Kidder’s books are often published under blandly soothing titles (“House,” “Old Friends,” “Mountains Beyond Mountains”) that sound more like middle-period Crosby, Stills and Nash albums than like serious works of nonfiction. The title of his new one, “Strength in What Remains,” fits the cloying pattern. —Dwight Garner (in an otherwise glowing review of Kidder's latest)

"Somewhere a dialysis machine moved through its cleaning cycle, emitting a series of soft grunts and rumbles, like a discreet indigestion." —J.G. Ballard, Super-Cannes