Reading Style

Davidson is the ideal reader every writer wishes for, who catches every nuance and every sly allusion, who is alive to rhythm and color and orchestration. She does not just read for that ostensibly load-bearing stuff that is labeled 'meaning,' but detects all of the layers of meaning that are conveyed purely by style. Her book is a gift and a deep pleasure, because what makes her such a virtuoso reader is that she is also a first-rate writer. -- Luc Sante, author of Low Life Charming and erudite. Publishers Weekly Jenny Davidson has the rare gift of being warmly analytical-highly intelligent but never mandarin, authoritative and intimate at the same time. Reading her discussions of writers ranging from Marcel Proust to Wayne Koestenbaum-by way of Jonathan Lethem and George Eliot-is like being in the company of a very clever friend as she unfolds the treasures of her bookshelf: one who enlightens without condescension, and who is eager to share the pleasures of a well-turned sentence while also being able to point out the satisfactions to be found in a bad one. I loved being in her company on the page, and left it inspired by her appetitive example. -- Rebecca Mead, author of My Life in Middlemarch Consistently insightful into classic (and sometimes not so classic) fiction. -- Tyler Cowen Marginal Revolution There is much to value here. -- Kate Womersley Times Literary Supplement [A] delightful new book. -- Mark Kingwell World Literatre Today