Richardson on Emerson

As noted previously, I read Richardson's new book on Emerson and writing last weekend. While the book has some good moments, I was surprised how badly edited it is. It's clearly a compendium of pieces that Richardson wrote on other occasions, but there's no evidence of an editorial hand pulling them together and eliminating the substantial overlap that crops up in the published edition. The same Emerson quotes reappear from section to section. While they're interesting, they're less so on second or third encounter. For such a short book, especially one on writing, the forgetful quality of the text, like being in the company of someone whose memory is going, is unfortunate. One reason for editors is to save writers (and readers) from that affliction.