Thursday Article: Take that, State of Wonder.
15 March 2012
If you haven't seen it yet this year, you should know that The Morning News is once again running their annual Tournament of Books.
I enjoy the Tournament, and salute TMN for running it, but usually I just check in briefly to see which books are advancing (and who the big winner is). I rarely read all the reviews and commentary, just because they're usually reviewing literary fiction novels about which I've heard but which I also have very few intentions of reading.
That all changed today when I read Wil Wheaton's* judging of Ann Patchett's novel State of Wonder vs. Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers.
I gotta tell you: Wil Wheaton is my new crush. Not only did he NOT advance Patchett's novel (of which I was not a fan, you'll remember), this is just an excerpt of what he had to say about one of the main characters:
"Wow, the doctor we’ve been waiting all this time to meet is a giant asshole. That’s good, because what this story needs is less interesting plot and more unlikable characters."
HA! Awesome. Thumbs up to Wheaton for making the ballsy choice of dumping the critically acclaimed Patchett novel in favor of DeWitt's, and thumbs up for a hilarious review explaining, at great length, the rationale for the ballsy choice.
*Here's Wheaton's bio from the site: "Wil Wheaton is an actor (Eureka, Leverage, The Big Bang Theory), author (Just a Geek, The Happiest Days of our Lives), and blogger (Wil Wheaton dot Net: In Exile). He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Anne." Please note many people also know him for his acting role on Star Trek: The Next Generation.