Wordsmoker

I met the Pulitzer-winning critic for The New York Times at a cocktail party for one of William Boyd’s books (we were told she rarely goes to publisher’s affairs but she really liked Boyd’s writing) and she was what I expected: thoughtful, kind of shy, pleasant.  It is hard to reconcile my remembrance of that party with the feared and often vilified book reviewer; the reviewer that de-balled Mailer and others.  But the recent review of the new Johnathan Lethem book Chronic City is something to behold. I have pulled out the greatest hits:

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