PositiveThe Wall Street Journal... if you want the dirt, go with Mr. Scott. Admittedly, reading him feels a bit like getting caught in a meteor shower of anecdotes and gags, with cosmic debris rattling off your helmet like rimshots. At times the plot wobbles and characters fail to coalesce. Matters of classical music are sometimes mangled; as Mr. Scott proudly confesses, had he chosen the music for the golden record, aliens would think humankind had only three chords ... Mostly, though, he has done his homework. He has the nerd’s determination to track down details, to badger surviving protagonists with questions no one else has asked. Above all, he has a golden ear for irony. Far from second-guessing or lamenting the record’s imperfections, he revels in its pops, clicks, glitches and quirks.
