> Stacy wrote: > > > There are writer who can get away with a style such as this, but most > cannot. An author's "clever humor" is the same way. Steven, of course, can be riotously funny without detracting from the story. So can Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, as in *Good Omens,* or Douglas Adams (for the first few books, anyway). Neil Stephenson, on the other hand, overdoes the "look how clever I am" aspect. So do those Roberts who do the Illuminatus Trilogy. It's like reading Tom Robbins in SF, or even worse, Gore Vidal. I can't cope with smug writers. Nikki >