J. J. Sullivan finds most of Nicholson Baker’s new essay collection agreeable and praises many of the essays, admiring Baker’s ability to “snatch little impressions in the chopsticks of his prose.” But what to make of Baker’s argument about pacifism and World War II?
On the plane, something odd but also vaguely magical-seeming happened: namely, nobody knew what time it was. Right before we landed, the flight attendant made an announcement, in English and Spanish, that although daylight saving time recently went into effect in the States, the island didn’t observe that custom. As a result, we had caught up — our time had passed into sync with Cuban time. You will not need to change your watches. Then, moments later, she came on again and apologized. She had been wrong, she said.
