Chic Is A Convent For

The Contents Of Someone's Bookcase Are Part Of His History, Like An Ancestral Portrait.

Ruefulness Is One Of The Classical Tones Of American Fiction. It Fosters A Native, Deglamorized Form Of Anxiety.

I Remember A Table In Barchestertowers That Had More Character Than The Combined Heroes Of Three Recent Novels I've Read.

To Choose A Writer For A Friend Is Like Palling Around With Your Cardiologist, Who Might Be Musing As You Talk To Him That You Are A Sinking Man. A Writer's Love For Another Writer Is Never Quite Free Of Malice. He May Enjoy Discussing Your Failures Even More Than You Do. He Probably Sees You As Tragic, Like His Characters - Or Unworthy Of Tragedy, Which Is Worse.

A Book Is Meant Not Only To Be Read, But To Haunt You, To Importune You Like A Lover Or A Parent, To Be In Your Teeth Like A Piece Of Gristle.