Customer Reviews

Oakland, Jack London, and Me

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A fine book of essays by a great fiction writer. Williamson shows you his London, and their Oakland. He writes, "And this is why Steinbeck and London are our two greatest writers: they don't write like Harold Brodkey, about some ninny New Yorker who cut his thumb and got sad when his wife didn't sympathize. They don't do the sappy Updike dance of suburban sentimentality. No they write about people at work, together with other people working, alone in the cosmos of their physical and spiritual labors," and if you've ever read any of Williamson's fiction, you'd know he writes for the worker too, which is much more interesting than rich slobs making up problems out of sheer ennui. If the trend were to read about the honest perception of the American working class, Williamson would be at the top of everyones reading list. Instead, he doesn't even make the cut. If you want honesty, and if you don't want to be jerked-off and pampered, read Williamson; he'll deliver it straight. He has a license to write about London that no one else has, and he uses that license to prove London's literary value. Williamson's London, rightfully so, deserves to be in the canon as much as or more than his contemporaries. If you havn't read London, or Williamson's fiction, you will after you read 'Oakland, Jack London, and Me.' 5/1/10

This book of critical essays is a lot better than any of the author's novels. Some of the essays offer genuine insight into literature, while others are a bit long and uninteresting. This is worth a passing look.