And this commentary on Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race by Ron Charles: “Throughout the campaign Youngkin promised to ban critical race theory in schools, even though critical race theory is not taught in Virginia schools. It’s as if Youngkin won by pledging to serve only gluten-free apples in the cafeteria.” (Karen Roberts, Collegeville, Pa.)
And this take, by Chelsea Janes and two of her Post colleagues, on Dansby Swanson’s big moment in Game 4 of the World Series: “Swanson hadn’t homered since Sept. 1 — nearly two months. Droughts don’t matter much this time of year, when one swing can flush a stadium’s worth of memories into oblivion and replace them with new ones.” (Bruce Bobick, Carrollton, Ga.)
Coming home to The Times, here’s Chris Bachelder, reviewing the new novel “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles: “Many novels this size are telescopes, but this big book is a microscope, focused on a small sample of a vast whole. Towles has snipped off a minuscule strand of existence — 10 wayward days — and when we look through his lens we see that this brief interstice teems with stories, grand as legends.” (Diana Castle, Victoria, British Columbia)
Here’s Wm. Ferguson, describing a moment of frustration in an exhilarating bike ride through New York State: “But we got off to a slow start when we realized that the bolt securing my son’s pannier rack had sheared right off. It is truly amazing what you can achieve with a full roll of electrical tape and 45 minutes of profanity.” (Stacey Somppi, Cottonwood, Ariz.)
Here’s David Hajdu, reviewing the book “The Lyrics,” by Paul McCartney: “To McCartney, a dark view of humanity is a failing and must be a mark of suffering, rather than an attribute of thought.” (Ruth Appleby, Santa Cruz, Calif.)
And here’s Dwight Garner, reviewing “Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941-1995,” edited by Anna von Planta: “By day Highsmith pegged away at her writing. By night she pegged away at her gin.” (Mohamed Ellozy, Brookline, Mass.) Dwight’s whole review is mesmerizing, in large part because Highsmith — and her approach to living — were. Treat yourself to it.
On IndieWire, David Ehrlich’s rave review of the new Jane Campion movie “The Power of the Dog,” a western, specifically praised Benedict Cumberbatch’s lead performance by noting how Cumberbatch “knots his default sarcasm into a lasso of constricted menace.”
