Another quarterfinals 
match-up where it’s books I’ve picked to advance, sparing me the trip to the alternate universe. This time it’s The History of Sound vs The Extinction of Irena Rey. This is perhaps the toughest match-up for me to pick a winner on. Both books are excellent and flawed in their own ways.
It’s almost a coin-flip moment, but I think I’m going to go with the chaotic weirdness of The Extinction of Irena Rey despite my love of short fiction. I think mostly because I had hoped that the title of Shattuck’s collection would be more surreal or symbolic than literal and was disappointed on that front. Still, he’s a great writer and I won’t be disappointed regardless of what happens when I get to
My judgment on the judgment
Nicholas Glastonbury, in his judgment, reminded me of so much of that I loved with The Extinction of Irena Rey and reminded me of things that bothered me about The History of Sound which, I think was key to his choosing The Extinction of Irena Rey to advance and I’m happy to agree with him. And now three of the four quarterfinal decisions have matched my own. My brackets are doing fine.
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