Marish Pessl’s debut novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics received a lot of press when it arrived on the shelves this August. Many of the reviews seemed favorable. Some have called the book overly clever and nothing but a literary trick. This week, my favorite local paper The Weekly Dig posted their own review. The subtitle of the piece says it all: “Deadly chick lit virus claims another victim”. Lest you think I’m trying to bring up the chick lit yay or nay discussion again, I’m merely pointing out the negativity of the review, not talking up the chick lit reference. I find this review so very interesting as it flies into the face of the anti-snarkiness that the Believer gang proselytize.