The gorgeous simplicity of Laurel Snyder's language makes all the
possibilities-and the impossibility-of living stand out starkly. Her
machines are thought machines, memory machines, the machines of false
and daily logic, and we recognize them all. And, of course, they don't
work this time either, but Snyder has found the poignancy in this, and
more than that, she has found its meaning. A startling and touching
book. --Cole Swensen