About the Book
A master not only of fiction but also of fiercely controversial political engagement, Martin Amis here gathers fourteen pieces that constitute an evolving, provocative, and insightful examination of the most momentous event of our time.
At the heart of this collection is the long essay "Terror and Boredom," an unsparing analysis of Islamic fundamentalism and the West's flummoxed response to it, while other pieces address the invasion of Iraq, the realities of Iran, and Tony Blair's lingering departure from Downing Street (and also his trips to Washington and Iraq). Amis's reviews of pertinent books and films, from "The Looming Tower" to "United 93, "provide a far-ranging survey of other responses to these calamitous issues, which are further explored in two short stories: "The Last Days of Muhammed Atta," its subject self-evident, and "In the Palace of the End," narrated by a Middle Eastern tyrant's double whose duties include epic lovemaking, grotesque torture, and the duplication on his own body of the injuries sustained by his alter ego in constant assassination attempts.
Whether lambasted for his refusal to kowtow to Muslim pieties or hailed for his common sense, wide reading, and astute perspective, Amis is indisputably a great pleasure to read--informed, elegant, surprising--and this collection a resounding contemplation of the relentless, manifold dangers we suddenly find ourselves living with.
Review :
""The Second Plane" bristles with intelligence [and] snaps and snarls." -Warren Bass, "The Washington Post
"
"Amis' work is never dull, never deferential to received wisdom...These pieces are angry, bracingly witty [and] cold as a frozen pipe...In an era of excessive self-consciousness, his brave, loud ferocity slaps us out of our comfortable pieties." -Diane Roberts, "St. Petersburg Times"
"A choreographer of imagination and ideas, [Amis] is bracing and morally brave." -Jim Sleeper, "Los Angeles Times"
"Possibly the most fully engaged writer of our age." --"The Times" (UK)
"Powerful and prescient...Behind the endlessly inventive language [is] an intellectual rigour based on an unwavering belief in the power of reason." --"Financial Times"
"Amis is doing exactly what we all must: thinking, growing, reassessing." --Joshua Rothkopf, "Time Out New York" (5 stars)
"Genuinely brave." --Adam Kirsch, "New York Sun"
"A walking tour of the motleyi
"Amis' work is never dull, never deferential to received wisdom...These pieces are angry, bracingly witty [and] cold as a frozen pipe...In an era of excessive self-consciousness, his brave, loud ferocity slaps us out of our comfortable pieties." -Diane Roberts, "St. Petersburg Times"
"A choreographer of imagination and ideas, [Amis] is bracing and morally brave." -Jim Sleeper, "Los Angeles Times"
"Possibly the most fully engaged writer of our age." --"The Times" (UK)
"Powerful and prescient...Behind the endlessly inventive language [is] an intellectual rigour based on an unwavering belief in the power of reason." --"Financial Times"
"Amis is doing exactly what we all must: thinking, growing, reassessing." --Joshua Rothkopf, "Time Out New York" (5 stars)
"Genuinely brave." --Adam Kirsch, "New York Sun"
"A walking tour of the motley post-September 11th mind-its fears, madnesses, misapprehension and insights." --Tom Bissell, "New York Observer"
"["The Second Plane"] fires a welcome, left-tending salvo...Amis proves eminently readable, his observations enlightening." --"Kirkus Reviews
""In this bracing and corrective collection of intense and perceptive responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Amis is doing far more than performing literary pyrotechnics or playing provocateur...[He] writes with vehemence, daring and verve because he schools himself in harsh truths, and because he cares." --Donna Seaman, "Booklist
""[Amis's] prose is subtle, elegant and witty-and certainly never boring." --"Publisher's Weekly
"
"Possibly the most fully engaged writer of our age." --"The Times" (UK)
"Powerful and prescient...Behind the endlessly inventive language [is] an intellectual rigour based on an unwavering belief in the power of reason." --"Financial Times"
"Amis is doing exactly what we all must: thinking, growing, reassessing." --Joshua Rothkopf, "Time Out New York" (5 stars)
"Genuinely brave." --Adam Kirsch, "New York Sun"
"A walking tour of the motley post-September 11th mind-its fears, madnesses, misapprehension and insights." --Tom Bissell, "New York Observer"
"["The Second Plane"] fires a welcome, left-tending salvo...Amis proves eminently readable, his observations enlightening." --"Kirkus Reviews
""In this bracing and corrective collection of intense and perceptive responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Amis is doing far more than performing literary pyrotechnics or playing provocateur...[He] writes with vehemence, daring and verve because he schools himself in harsh truths, and because he cares." --Donna Seaman, "Booklist
""[Amis's] prose is subtle, elegant and witty-and certainly never boring." --"Publisher's Weekly
"
"
"
"["The Second Plane"] fires a welcome, left-tending salvo...Amis proves eminently readable, his observations enlightening." --"Kirkus Reviews
""In this bracing and corrective collection of intense and perceptive responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Amis is doing far more than performing literary pyrotechnics or playing provocateur...[He] writes with vehemence, daring and verve because he schools himself in harsh truths, and because he cares." --Donna Seaman, "Booklist
""[Amis's] prose is subtle, elegant and witty-and certainly never boring." --"Publishers Weekly
"
