"Adam Mars-Jones’s <i>Second Sight </i>(Reaktion Books), a collection of film journalism from across 30 years, became an instant candidate for my desert island book." - <b><i>Leo Robson, New Stateman 'Books of the Year'</i></b><br />"Just as he doesn’t write reviews like anyone else, so it follows that <i>Second Sight</i> rejects the orthodoxy of the criticism collection. Though it draws from around three decades of work, predominantly at the Independent and the Times Literary Supplement, it is not merely a sheaf of disinterred cuttings. Its distinguishing feature is the abundant new material which links the pieces, evolving far beyond the function of connective tissue. The effect is rather as if a DJ’s between-song patter had unexpectedly become as dynamic as the dancefloor-filling hits themselves . . . Phrasing and analysis never fall below a level of shimmering fastidious excellence" - <b><i>Sight and Sound</i></b><br />"Adam Mars-Jones’s Second Sight brings together reviews and essays written as a film reviewer for the <i>Independent</i>, the<i> New Statesman</i> and, more recently, the <i>TLS</i>. The book alternates between these pieces and a running commentary with an element of memoir. Mars-Jones recalls atmospheric basement screenings in 1990s Soho, dictating his copy over the phone and the vicissitudes of working for different papers as the editorial winds changed. Formative movie-going experiences are evoked, recalling the memoirist mode of <i>Kid Gloves</i>, his book about his father . . . A fine contribution to the tradition of intellectual film reviewing." - <b><i>TLS</i></b><br />