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only one that might raise a reader's eyebrow;
the rest seemed quite plausible, very much in
keeping with the general tone of the work, even
(naturally) somewhat boring. Rereading it,
however, we discovered that the rigorous
writing was underlain by a basic vagueness. Of
the fourteen names that figured in the section
on geography, we recognized only three
(Khorasan, Armenia, Erzerum), and they
interpolated into the text ambiguously. Of the
historical names, we recognized only one: the
impostor-wizard Smerdis, and he was invoked,
really, as a metaphor. The article seemed to
define the borders of Uqbar, but its nebulous
points of reference were rivers and craters and
mountain chains of the region itself. We read,
for example, that the Axadelta and the lowlands
of Tsai Khaldun mark the southern boundary,
and that wild horses breed on the islands of the
delta.
That was at the top of page 918. In the
section on Uqbar's history (p. 920), we learned
that religious persecutions in the thirteenth
century had forced the orthodox to seek refuge