Here’s a nice review of HOW TO SHARPEN PENCILS that was published on the New Yorker’s blog:

The tension between the desire for perfection and the need to live in a world in which perfection is impossible is a covert theme in the book, and Rees’s frequent allusions to the analogous relationship between an imperfect pencil tip and an imperfect life seem both goofily ironic and utterly sincere.

Many thanks to reviewer Mark O’Connell for his thoughtful response to my work!