PositiveThe Times Literary Supplement (UK)What makes Disney’s Land by Richard Snow compelling is its recreation of the nail-biting suspense surrounding an endeavour so deliciously unlikely ... Snow brings to life the nerves of workers still laying asphalt or adding paint to attractions ... Snow’s research is thorough and his narrative approach chronological, with brief digressions to fill in each player’s backstory ... Sometimes Snow’s digressions can be distracting or – at worst – troubling, especially when they defend Disney and his projects from serious accusations ... The parks’ allure is most strong among children or adults who encountered the parks as children. Snow went first as a child, and much later as a writer, and although the personal recollections that bookend this work of history initially seem out of place, it becomes clear that they are in fact its animating force ... Those more versed in Disney lore might not find many new stories in Disney’s Land, but then the genius of Walt Disney’s oeuvre was never really in telling new stories either: rather, it was in retelling old stories in a remarkable way. By that measure, Snow’s work suits its subject beautifully.
