Word: scoopful
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These are assuredly old and durable subjects, yet ones that Wilson probes with a comic irony sharpened on the modern world. Inevitably, his work has been compared to the novels of Evelyn Waugh. There are similarities but only "up to a point," as a subordinate in Waugh's Scoop responded when Lord Copper blustered that Yokohama is the capital of Japan. Wilson's comedy is more tolerant than that of the malicious master. Both authors, however, project intimidating confidence in their styles and possess a technical virtuosity that makes the difficult look easy...
...point, and in the quiet, wooded streets of Reading that point seemed to be Atlantic Foods. Streams of post-retirement-age couples wandered through with armfuls of catfood and spaghetti, looking unworried about the future of Social Security. A few young office folks pulled up their striped cuffs to scoop sprouts and avocados from the salad bar. Then came a guy with Bon Jovi hair and a black, flapping fringe coat; I didn't actually see what he bought, but it was heavy and clinked. Wherever he was going, I doubted it was part of Bush's America...
...Scoop...
...complete scoop on Harvard sports, please turn to section C. Coverage includes previews of all fall teams and stories on Harvard quarterback Tom Yohe and running back Tony Hinz. The section also features an Olympic diary (by Harvard undergraduate and rower Juliet Thompson), a review of Boston sports and a column about the summer sporting life in Richmond...
...other end of the scale of literary sobriety is Donald E. Westlake's sprightly Trust Me on This (Mysterious Press; 293 pages; $16.95), which satirizes the seemingly unsatirizable. After faltering in recent years, Westlake recoups in perhaps the most beguiling beheading of journalists since Evelyn Waugh's Scoop. The targets are the tabloid weeklies that feature UFO sightings, no-dieting diets and a "body in a box," that is, surreptitious photos of a dead celebrity in his casket. Rather than mock the already preposterous, Westlake explores the mentality that capable, rational people would need in order to crank out such...