Easter Parade: Zhiv's Review

I took a very long break -- to say the least -- from blogging about Richard Yates, as the more dogmatic end of the overall blogging craze had started to annoy me. When I get annoyed, I walk away.

Yet a friend's recent devouring of Easter Parade in three hours last night -- only days after finishing Revolutionary Road -- got me searching around the blogosphere for Richard Yates posts. I wasn't disappointed. This post by Zhiv about Easter Parade is one of the greatest reviews of the book I've read. And for all I know Zhiv isn't a professional journalist or academic.

This is why I got into blogging in the first place -- not for the solipsism much of it has become.

Here's a sample, but please be sure to read the whole post.

The term that seems to capture the general impression created by Yates is devastation, which of course hardly melds with slightness or accessibility, but perhaps that just shows the deft touch of the master.

Comments

[zhiv]

You're much too kind, but it's deeply appreciated. I caught "Yates fever" just a couple of months ago, but it's nice to see that I'm not alone--a blog called "RevRo" is the most exciting thing I've seen in a long time. I don't know if you saw some of the other Yates posts over at Zhiv, but I'd be curious to hear if they make sense to you, and I'll be back shortly.

[Jeff (RevRo)]

No problem, Zhiv. I'll try to take a good look at your other Yates posts this weekend.

There's also a Richard Yates MySpace page at www.myspace.com/fansofrichardyates (which he's probably rolling over in his grave over, I know). Even a family member is on there!