Word: humdrum
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...frustrations for aficionados of the crime novel is the discovery that there are loved ones or esteemed friends who, having sampled the genre, view it with boredom or disdain. The most irritating aspect of the belittlers' criticism is that it is often correct, at least as applied to the humdrum majority among the hundreds of mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals and spy stories published in the U.S. each year. Characters are frequently sketchy, plots more elaborate than coherent, dialogue archly unnatural, and exotic settings tacked on rather than integral to the narrative. Many authors seem to think that a new gimmick...
...mate. Bush strides to the rostrum to break the news. "I want Dole," he declares. Before the cheers can erupt, he quickly adds, "No, not you, Bob." Then Elizabeth Dole hugs her husband, moves happily to the stage -- and the Republicans break into their first spontaneous demonstration in a humdrum convention...
Given the fascinating eccentricities that crop up on nearly every page of this novel, Bartlebooth's plan seems almost humdrum. From the most straitened (and self-imposed) circumstances, Perec spins forth an infinite variety of entertainments, hundreds of tales, anecdotes, puzzles, mysteries, conundrums and diversions. Do the glittering pieces add up to a radiant whole? While the fun proceeds, this question seems irrelevant. At the end, it teases and haunts...
...survey of 35 economists last week predicted that the economy will expand at a humdrum 2.8% annual rate during the last half of 1987 and a sluggish 1.4% in the first half of 1988. While that is a definite slowdown, it is not quite a dead halt. A few economists, however, predict a recession. Among them is Irwin Kellner, chief economist for Manufacturers Hanover, the New York City banking company, who thinks the U.S. economy will shrink by 2% in the first half of 1988 before quickly recovering...
...that storm arrives, readers of First Light will never hear of it. For the quiet, almost humdrum opening chapter of this first novel is also, in a traditional sense, the conclusion of the tale. Charles Baxter, 40, the author of two fine collections of short stories, has not only come across an interesting idea for an experimental narrative but has managed to translate it into convincing fiction. The book's epigraph, from Kierkegaard, provides the key: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards...