The essays in this book are varied and interesting.
I have mixed feelings, personally, on this book. The writing is GREAT, so that isn't it. It is that the three sections are really very different, especially the first from the second two.
However, having said that, the second two sections are astoundingly terrific. They make you think, like all good writing.
If you want to revisit personalities from the eighties, written a la a Vanity Fair profile, the first section will be highly enjoyable. The writing, as I said, is top notch, so revisiting is not bad. It is just out of sync.
I say all this as if someone gets this because of other reviews, I don't want him/her to start at the first section and then put down the book because it is not what he or she expected. If you start to read and feel that way, by all means, skip section one and you will feel you got just as much value for the read with with one.