The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump: Essays and Reportage, 1994-2017 (Vintage International) Paperback – January 22, 2019

Enjoyed reading this collection of essays from an author who has been on my radar for quite some time, by way of his late friend Christopher Hitchens. Concise analysis and dissection of topics, and good storytelling. Look forward to reading more of his works.

Martin Amis once again points the laser of his talent at a selection of writers, celebrities and politicians. I’m always grateful for the opportunity to spend a little time in his head - read it now, his essays about Trump are perfect.

Wonderfully entertaining writing. Just like reading Christopher Hitchens, i need to keep the iPhone or the OED handy to look up unfamiliar words. There were many amusing and thoughtful moments and I added yet more books to my list of must reads.

Amazing Amis ! Brilliant insights into a highly contradictory world. The essays also provide valuable insights into literature, literary assessment, biography, psychology, & philosophy.

I was so excited to get this book. I really enjoyedMA’s wit and mastery of the English Language.But, it kind of ran out of steam. To be honest, I bailed a little bit more than half way through,so maybe it rallies. If it does I will resubmit.

The art of the essay here remains strong. Martin Amis has capable hands for difficult subjects probed with fresh insights. The literary essay has particular challenges and unique satisfactions. The best guides for these expeditions are writers whose understanding is driven by passion and artful perspective. Joan Didion is one such notable author. Martin Amis is another.THE RUB OF TIME is a collection of essays published from 1994-2017, subtitled “Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump — Essays and Reportage.” Treated to the Amis range, lucidity, and linguistic precision, the reader is taken on a guided tour, as it were, and there is great pleasure in his company. His wry analysis of noteworthy novelists, poets, public persons and cultural phenomena is often stunning. Addressing an elephantine cognitive inconsistency, he describes one politician as “‘a pro-life libertarian’ — which means that he favors minimal state intervention except when it comes to pregnant women.’”A novelist of acknowledged talent, Martin Amis brings an educated imagination to his subjects. His love of language sustains him. We are invited to see with his clear eyes, confidence, concision and style. We experience “Rambo, that lethal trapezium of organ meat,” and hear with sharpened language life brought forth from other writers: “A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realization that you can’t make old friends” (Christopher Hitchens), or, in the mathematical prognostications of J.G. Ballard, “The future equals sex times technology squared.”The pleasures of essays from a literary sensibility are profound because insights are often delivered on the sly. Recall Joan Didion describing a Las Vegas wedding chapel by its motto:“Sincere and dignified since 1954.” Martin Amis is similar in his allusions. He writes: “Very broadly, we read fiction to have a good time…we reflect that whereas instruction doesn’t always delight, delight always instructs.”THE RUB OF TIME delights and instructs. It does this by means of exposing the reader to main influences in our time, in our experience. When Amis describes a major figure as “scowling out from under an omelet of makeup” it is a true statement and we get his gist. We want to read him because, clever, articulate, insightful and penetrating in his understanding, he speaks with the authority of an artist, and we know that is special.--Tom Casey

A close second to Hitch.

The recipient enjoyed the essays very much.

I am taking my time savoring this book. I am disciplining myself to read only one essay at a time so that it lasts longer and look forward to rereading my favorites in the future. His vocabulary is intriguing and I am enjoying looking up words as I rarely encounter an author who uses terms I am not already familiar with. What a fantastic writer.

What can I say about Martin Amis? There is no other writer I would rather read in these appalling times. When I read his commentary on contemporary culture and politics somehow I feel comforted. The world can’t be completely bad when we have a critic who can cut through the utter horror that is today’s social and political environment.