I could wax enthusiastic about Levy’s writing, which is dreamy but diamond-sharp, prismatic, droll ... Levy does not do complication for complication’s sake. Each sentence precisely pins down a feeling, and with such economy ... Like all of us, Levy is far from coherent or fixed, and if the goal were to emerge from this book with a cohesive portrait of its author—a gestalt exercise unto itself—then the reader would fail. Certainly, this reader did, and happily so ... invites the reader into Levy’s literary imagination, and taken together, these facts and moments form a portrait, but it is far from photographic or even accurate.
The mood here is never too serious ... The collection might be best for the Levy diehards who don’t want to miss any of her writing that happens between longer works ... It’s mainly the purpose of the book that feels askew or absent here.
Levy’s approachable but oblique novels look like realism, but come riddled with psychological trapdoors and unstable narratives, while her trilogy of memoirs takes the reader in hand more directly. Her new book...combines the best of both approaches.
Through it all, like the thread that binds the individual patches, Levy’s restless intelligence probing the dark corners of the mind ... The ability to think laterally and broadly across different artistic mediums is where Levy’s nous and sensibility are most impressively on show. The other success of this collection is her characteristic inventiveness with form ... For all lovers of culture, and writers in particular, The Position of Spoons has many gems.
Levy seeks to elevate those who helped pioneer significant movements under the heavy shadow of their male counterparts. Other entries examine the enduring inheritance of trauma, philosophical interpretations of culture, and the subconscious as a source of artistic inspiration. Many are rich with theory and scholarly references, which may limit the collection’s appeal beyond the literary sphere. Followers of French Existentialism and Levy’s unique wit and wisdom will be delighted.
Ultimately, The Position of Spoons is a celebration of the freedom to write, the freedom to create and flourish. As Levy reminds us ... This marvelous montage of essays and vignettes offers glimpses into the author's writing life and her engaging observations on French writers, automobiles, and female hysteria, among other topics.
Many of these disparate texts were originally published as commissioned introductions to novels or articles in journals, but together they acquire an electric energy as they begin to take the shape of an untethered, free-form autobiography ... An elegant, minimalist collage.
a dazzling collection of musings on art, aging, psychoanalysis, celebrity car crashes, and more ... Here, she gives space to everything else, with sublime results. Readers will be grateful for this generous peek inside a singular mind.
