SOURCE: "Premises as Pretense," in The New York Times Book Review, January 10, 1988, p. 17.

In the following review, Krich gives mixed reviews of Monsieur Teste in America and Other Instances of Realism. He lauds Codrescu's mastery of American idiom, but faults his overuse of simile.

"America can be taken for granted," counsels Andrei Codrescu near the outset of his latest prose flight. "The obvious is very serious about itself here." The point can hardly be argued in a country where morning papers carry headlines like "Study Reveals Unreality May Be Good for You." It is with healthy doses of such medicine that the Romanian-born poet seeks to treat his adopted homeland. If these stories are termed "instances of realism" that's only because this eternal emigre views American reality as the outdated passport each new arrival carries in his vest pocket. As in his weekly musings for National Public Radio's...