Over at Book Fox, the assertion has been made that William Vollmann was too harsh in his review of Anthony Swofford's new novel Exit A at the NYT last weekend. I wrote about Vollmann's review, as did Jenny D. and Ed and tons of other bloggers including a whole crew at Metaxucafe who are back and forth as to whether Vollmann was mean or not. I have to tell you, I still think he did a great job. Book Fox is clear that he wasn't expecting Swofford to get a pass, but as a first time novelist he thinks Swofford deserved more of a break. To wit:

For a literary great, if a no-holds-barred takedown is necessary, then so be it. The same goes for a mid-career author, perhaps with employing a pinch more carefulness. But a first time novelist (Jarhead was nonfiction) should be handled with kid gloves. Of course there are flaws in the novel, and Vollmann does the reader a service by pointing out how serious they are, but few first novelists come out of the gate at a sprint (If they do, they are often feted for it). More often, it does take a few novels, as Vollmann points out at the end of the article, to achieve a measure of literary competence, much less greatness.

I'm not buying it. Jarhead was huge - monumentally huge - and it was that big largely because it was that good. My brother gave that book to our mother as the only thing he has ever read that shows what it was truly like to be a Marine (and my brother reads a ton). The book was compelling, brutally honest, riveting - all the things good nonfiction and good literature should be. And while I certainly agree that it is not easy for most writers to switch from nonfiction to fiction, I don't think an author who has done such impressive work in the past should get extra consideration just because he's trying something new. Swofford is a professional, and his readers are entitled to a certain standard in his work. (Hell, we're entitled to that standard in everyone's work - wouldn't it be grand if we got it?!)

What's odd about his complaint though is that John Fox agrees that Last Exit isn't all that great. So he's apparently agreeing with Vollman's opinion, just not his delivery of it. Consider this:

Vollmann says he "hate[s] to write reviews like this." I believe him. I believe that he was compelled by the poor execution of the prose and the flat characters to deliver a verdict that characterizes the novel as poor quality. But the way and extent to which he did it made first time novelists everywhere cringe over their computers.

So the book is clearly flawed ("poor execution of prose and the characters"), but still, please be nice. Somehow we are supposed to believe that Anthony Swofford can survive in the desert but will not survive Vollman's words. ("It's a scarring, eviscerating, decapitation" according to Fox.) I'm sure the review hurt, but honestly if the dialogue really is that flat all the way through the book then Swofford needs to know it. If the examples Vollmann gave in his review are indicative of the whole book (I haven't read it and never planned to), then someone needs to let this author know. Swofford is talented - very talented - and maybe he did just have a little trouble adjusting from memoir to fiction. It's not a huge big deal and as Vollmann stated at the end of his review, he surely has a long career ahead of him. Better to know that he needs to work on some aspects of his writing now, then struggle for years wondering why sales never reach the heights of Jarhead. It's a wicked truth, but still - it's a vital truth nonetheless.

The irony of my supporting Vollmann in this is not lost on me - I don't really write negative reviews as I hardly ever finish a book I don't like and thus don't put myself in a position to even be able to write a negative review. So what Vollmann did is something I would most likely never be able to do. (I have explained in the past that I will write the occasional tepid review for Booklist, but if I don't like the book, then really, I'm not likely to review it.) However, for everyone wondering why Vollmann reviewed this book when he clearly didn't like it, well it's by Anthony Swofford and Swofford wrote an incredibly successful and monumentally important first book. He wrote what will stand as one of the classic pieces of military memoir, ever. We don't get a lot of them - especially since the end of Vietnam - and Jarhead was fantastic. Further, he stayed in the military setting with his novel, so the odds are good that many readers who loved Jarhead are going to reach for Exit A. This is not some little book by a fledgling author; Jarhead sold over 120,000 copies the first year it was published - and that's hardcover. He's a bestseller - bigtime - not to mention the source of a major film with the same name, and I imagine Jarhead is a book that will never go out of print. His second book is getting a lot of attention because it needs to and deserves to.

Swofford survived Marine Corps boot camp; trust me folks, he will survive this too. And as for all of the first time novelists out there, well, yes it would be great to not have to run the gauntlet of negative reviewers. But that's the nature of the beast and it happens. Hell - ask Kiran Desai and she might tell you that good reviews has screwed her up for life. It's always something, really. You just find a way to survive it all and keep writing because it is always going to be something.