It's true. All those great American novels have flaws, but like flaws in some mammoth piece of sculpted marble, who cares? Moby Dick is wild, Melville would have failed Composition 101, but who ever wanted one page less of it? Look at Faulkner, masterpieces and potboilers, Caddies and corncobs. My favourite American novel is hugely flawed: Tender is the Night. The second half is a mess. But the first half is completely amazing, life caught fluttering in a jar. The last thirty pages of Huck Finn are not in the same league as the rest, but oh that rest!

Is there a perfect American novel? Well, maybe The Great Gatsby. It seems to have been written by God.

yours,

Peter T.