Absurdly good; it's rare to get a non-fiction writer who imbues her writing with as much interiority as a fiction writer, but Dombek's successful almost beyond compare. As a bonus, she's also a lucid explorer and explainer of research and cultural history. The two modes complement each other nicely, fleshing out her thesis and keeping the pace up through this enjoyably-discursive read.

I had high hopes from her Help Desk column at N+1—consistently some of my favorite writing in the magazine—but this book might have exceeded them. When I wasn't grimacing in recognition, I was grinning at the sheer quality of mind and prose, fuckin' giddy at some of the paragraphs. Highly recommended!