PositiveThe Masters ReviewRather than interrogating or lingering on these news items, the narrator describes them in a mostly matter-of-fact way, setting the scene as other writers might mention the weather to establish mood ... This is not to say that the events aren’t described with evocative language, or that we don’t get a sense of the narrator’s opinions, but they are allowed to recede into the background ... The novella works best when it rides the crest of these associations ... Searls’s writing is effective not only because of how insightful and playful it often is...but also in the way he maintains our attention as he shifts from one subject to another ... Books within books and stories within stories are par for the course in avant-garde texts that explore the limits of storytelling, but for me, this was when the novella felt least innovative ... Is a book that reflects this indecision back at you a wake-up call, or just another form of procrastination?
