Curriculum Vitae by Yoel Hoffmann and A Critical Mass of Internet Reviews

I think this is the first time the Complete Review and Open Letter reviewed the same book on the same day. Here's the first graf from each.

The Complete Review:

Curriculum Vitae is a life-account -- of sorts. In 100 pieces and a number of line-drawing illustrations by the author, Hoffmann conveys impressions and stations of his life, as well as odd thoughts and observations (which are, in fact, often truly quite odd). This is far from straightforward autobiography, and yet it gives good insight into the author. Part of the book deals with his family's stay in Japan and his fascination with Japanese culture and language, and the zen-cultural influence is also reflected in the small bits of writing (and drawing).

And Open Letter:

Imagine the scene we are all familiar with: you are writing up a C.V. to send out to those who might judge your capabilities, your efficacies, and the quality of your existence to date from what you were able to condense onto a single side of a sheet of letter paper. Imagine adding, among sections detailing work experience and education, sections that enumerate your preferred breakfast cereals, your ongoing spiritual conundra, and personal illustrations that are little more than impressionist contour doodles. Imagine allowing yourself a healthy dose of humor; it can’t hurt to make your assessors laugh a little. Now imagine reading such a thing.

I'm not sure that writing up a CV is quite the universal experience that the Open Letter reviewer would have it as; nonetheless, two solid reviews (although the Complete Review's is a bit on the short side), and now they've got me wanting to drag my copy out on the subway with me.

This conjunction of reviews brings up some interesting questions. Seems that this book reached Chad and Michael at about the same time (and for the record, I just received a review copy). While it's great that we're at the point where something like this could happen, one does hope that translators of fiction that haven't yet been reached by sites like Three Percent, the Complete Review, and this one will begin to see us as placed to get their books covered.