I heard the title essay was about a cruise trip and, as I'd just put a down payment on a May 2017 cruise, thought I'd read his take. Love the cover photo.
12 Feb 2016 - Really enjoyed the cruise, state fair, and tennis essays, but the tv and literary criticism essays were beyond me. Definitely a talented fellow with a huge vocabulary ("frottage"), although somewhat juvenile too.

"One of the fully assembled rides near the Hollow's west end is something called The Zipper. It's riderless but in furious motion, a kind of Ferris Wheel on amphetamines. Individual caged cars are hinged to spin on their own axes as they go around in a tight vertical ellipse. The machine looks less like a zipper than the head of a chain saw. Its off-white paint is chipped, and it sounds like a shimmying V-12, and in general it's something I'd run a mile in tight shoes to avoid riding."

traded in to Bookman's at Grant and Campbell.