A unique work in Theroux's canon, Truisms distills a lifetime of observation and reading into thousands of rhyming quatrains, a Rubaiyat for our times. It is a compendium of universal truths, witty aphorisms, personal opinions, wise maxims, sardonic insults, cranky complaints, abrupt advice, and believe-it-or-not factoids that only he could assemble. Beginning with a well-informed history of apothegms and epigrams, Theroux states, "A truism provides a way of seeing by way of the compendious and concise, the summary and the succinct, a thought closed like a door with a bang." Truisms is "the way I see the world," he concludes, and it should appeal to both Theroux's fans and to anyone who appreciates pithy proverbs.

• Steven Moore, author (The Novel: An Alternative History, My Back Pages: Reviews and Essays, Alexander Theroux: A Fan's Notes, etc.)