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I'm going to admit it: I'm a sucker for a gimmick in a book. Not a formula, necessarily, but a gimmick in terms of structure. You have funny footnotes, Jasper Fforde? You got me. You wrote a book in the form of an online forum conversation, Victor Palevin? You got me.

Of course, this isn't always true. I read Sorrentino's all-questions book Gold Fools and hated it, didn't I? So I guess it's not a universal way of seducing me.

In any event, I mention it because I picked up Twilight of the Superheroes expecting something to do with, you know, superheroes. Maybe something like Alan Moore meets Michael Chabon. Not so much. People love these short stories, but of all the short story collections I've read recently, this one drags the most. And I'm wondering if it's because I was expecting or hoping for a gimmick. Sigh. Back to work.