William Fields, Alabama, 1936, by Walker Evans/Library of Congress
Is it just me who found it odd that the weekend book reviews
in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post about the just
published Cotton Tenants: Three Families by James Agee and Walker Evans started with the
same five words and used the same quotes?
Daniel Stashower wrote the review for the Post and
Cameron McWhirter wrote for the Journal, and this is how their first
sentences begin:
"In the summer of 1936..." with "the 26-year-old" Agee.
Quoting Agee, here are the (practically) identical quotes the
reviewers used:
"A civilization which for any reason puts a human life
at a disadvantage; or a civilization which can exist only by putting human life
at a disadvantage; (… Post) is worthy
neither of the name nor ("or" Post)
of continuance. And a human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which
has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that
this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more
in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the
deep sea."
And this one, quoting Agee describing one of the farmer
subjects, Frank Tingle:
"Crepe (the Journal
uses a small "c") forehead, monkey eyebrows, slender nearly boneless
nose, vermillion gums. A face pleated
and lined elaborately as a Japanese mask; its skin the color of
corpsemeat."
It is perplexing that the same quotes appear, but maybe they are the ones on the blurb, or in the publicist's promotion which leads one (me) to wonder: Did the reviewers read the book? I haven't seen it, so maybe it's mostly photos, and there is little written content to quote. The book has 224 pages.
Whatever, the sameness is disturbing.
It's like competing dance reviewers picking out 30 seconds of a ballerina's pirouette
and focusing on it. Maybe Rupert Murdoch
owns the Post, too, and Edward Snowden will reveal same.
I checked the New York Times and couldn't find a
review there other than a review of how the manuscript was discovered and the
process which led to the book's publication.
Yes, according to the Post and the Journal, the book is well worth reading, and I've signed up for it at my favorite public library, Fairfax County's.
Yes, according to the Post and the Journal, the book is well worth reading, and I've signed up for it at my favorite public library, Fairfax County's.
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