As Nicholas Lemann noted in the
Washington Post Book World, "Everyone is entitled to a theory as to why of all American writers Michener is the most popular." Lemann, for one, thought it was because Michener's mixture of appealing "melodrama" and factual information made readers "feel that the long hours spent reading" a Michener book "qualify as self-improvement." Peter C. Newman, in the Chicago
Tribune Books, speculated that perhaps the "real point of Michener's books" is that "[t]hey are truly awful, but you can't stop reading them."
Some of the same critics who pointed out the flaws in Michener's works argued that Michener did not attempt literary perfection, and that his work should be analyzed on its own terms. They noted Michener's incredible memory and his presentation of interesting facts. They praised his ability to write engagingly about a wide variety of topics, and to keep the reader turning pages. Some critics applauded his efforts to teach readers about history inside and outside the United States. In a review of Chesapeake for the New York Times Book Review, for example, critic Jonathan Yardley defended Michener for his "entirely serious" intent "to instruct."
Other critics remarked on Michener's progressive messages. Pearl K.
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