“…without the courtesy of an index”

In the May 7 issue of the New York Times, Jennifer Szalai reviews George Packer’s Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century. It’s mostly a very positive review.

However, there’s a problem with the book–it is a five-hundred-page work of historical biography, without an index.

What does the reviewer mean when she says the book is “supposed to” be read like a novel, continuously, from front to back? Even if this is the author’s position–as it apparently is–does this mean that historians and scholars will not want to cite Packer’s work? Or that even casual readers will never want to look something up as (or after) they read? Just saying…

To read the review, click here: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Richard Holbrooke