This is a phrase that (I believe) was coined by theater critic Elisabeth Vincentelli to describe shows with lots of fun sing and dance numbers where everyone in the audience has a great time and you aren’t really prompted to think analytically or learn something new from the plot.  I think that this phrase also describes a lot of sf that I enjoy.  Sometimes you don’t need good characterization, ornate writing, or science that makes any sense at all to enjoy a story, and my most recent experience with this was reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

I read the book during a happier time: in one sitting at my library shift the last Friday before spring break.  As I was reading, I was unamused by characters with very few personallity traits, poorly explained technology, and the shortest sentences you could possibly imagine.  But I couldn’t help myself.  The scenario of a man travelling through parallel universes at breakneck speed in order to return to his real life was compelling and so much fun to read about.  I guess this proves that for me, a book doesn’t need to do everything right, it just needs to do one thing well, and I’ll stick with it until the end.  If anyone is looking for a book to get completely absorbed in for an afternoon, Dark Matter is definitely the way to go.  And thank you to Cole for recommending I read this!