“The language of marketing is that of ‘appreciation,’ and if literary critics adopt appreciation as their primary mode, they have not achieved critical distance from market interests. … The reviewer must be allowed to retain the option of proclaiming some books superior to others in the canon; if this right is denied her, then reviewing has become an extension of marketing, and she has lost credibility.”
Tag: Spring 2015
From Augustine To Oprah: Why We Get Confessional In Public (And Why People Listen)
“For while the instinct to confess is not always hard to understand – whether or not the confessor means to justify or condemn himself – the instinct to hear a confession is another thing entirely.”
Hidden Worlds: The Creative World Runs On Assistants
“When I was an undergrad at Harvard, the English department produced fancy brochures about the opportunities available to its majors: teacher, editor, Rhodes scholar. Personal assistant was not listed. I hadn’t even heard of such positions until senior year, when older friends, artistically inclined friends, started snagging them. It’s the position I think I’ve heard most about now. Nearly every exclusive field runs on assistants.”