In your reading of it, did any matters of craft, structure, or form rise to the surface? Did anything in the writing itself impress or annoy you, inspire you or leave you cold?

Kanigel’s book is about 55,000 words long and might take an average reader five or six hours to read. In your reading of it, did any matters of craft, structure, or form rise to the surface? Did anything in the writing itself impress or annoy you, inspire you or leave you cold?

Within the first chapter, my immediate thought was: this guy has a lot of experience writing (this is my first Kanigel book), or an amazing editor--or both (!). I impressed with how tightly written the book was, but still packed full of detail and information. This, in my opinion, is real talent. Anyone can tell a story like this in 500 pages--but in 230??

Also, I also respectfully disagree with the author--his life was anything but ordinary. His parents were educated and cultured, he was far above his peers academically, he had the talent to land interesting and challenging jobs, he had the means to bolt off to Europe. I picked up this book one Sunday afternoon intending to read a chapter or two, and finished it before bed. This was a wonderful story.

The author is a good writer. The sentences (mostly on pages 26-27) about how he "didn't get groups; they baffled me, their social force fields impossible to navigate" resonated with me. I thought this was a very descriptive section that sort of set the tone for me while reading the rest of the book.