Errol Morris and W.G. Sebald

The documentary-maker Errol Morris's book, "Believing Is Seeing (Observations of the Mysteries of Photography)," has been getting on quite a few Best of 2011 book lists, including those of The New York Times and The Washington Post. It does sound like an interesting project, and it is always good to see examples of the chronicle's close cousin, the essay, do well in the marketplace. But, to judge by a few excerpts from it, the New York Times reviewer went a little overboard when he stated that "Morris's book feels less like traditional photography criticism than like the novels of W. G. Sebald, which are similarly obsessed with truth, memory and war." It would indeed be like Sebald -- if Sebald were the sort of writer who cared as little about the art of prose as someone who is principally a filmmaker. Morris's talky writing does not rise above the standard of your average newspaper column or blog.