PositiveThe Wall Street Journal...a complex and intriguing book that weaves together the careers and writings of the two figures to create a tapestry of life in imperial Rome. As fortunate as we are to have the writings of this pair, it is unlucky, for Ms. Dunn, that they share a name ... The problem that this shared name presents for Ms. Dunn is signaled by her subtitle, \'A Life of Pliny.\' Those familiar with the era might wonder which Pliny is meant; the answer turns out to be both. Ms. Dunn, an independent historian who has written a biography of the Roman poet Catullus, treats the combined \'life\' of the two men as a kind of continuum and juxtaposes their writings and thoughts wherever she can. It’s an ingenious plan but requires that readers keep close track of which Pliny is under discussion, a task that proves demanding at times ... Still, the potential for confusion is not fatal, and even if, in the worst case, readers conflate the Plinys or lose track of chronology—Ms. Dunn moves freely back and forth in time—they will find much to enjoy in this clever, engaging book. Part of Ms. Dunn’s design is to escape linearity in favor of the pleasure of miscellany ... Though the Pliny that emerges from this book is not an appealing figure, and Ms. Dunn is less than candid about his flaws, her exploration of his life and times, and that of his uncle, has much to offer to readers, with its ground-up, kaleidoscopic view of a nine-decade span of Roman history.
