Charles McGrath’s Grand Old Men of Literature

Halfway through this morning’s NYT profile of Philip Roth, it dawned on me that Charles McGrath was slipping into awfully familiar territory—and I wasn’t because I suddenly remembered that old Magazine piece on “the gray American novel,” either). Then it clicked: Just last week, McGrath turned in a puff piece on Gay Talese (“makes Tom Wolfe look like someone who collects Mark Twain outfits from a thrift shop”); before that, it was Alan Bennett’s turn.

One wouldn’t necessarily suggest McGrath is stuck in a rut, since he seems to be having a lot of fun reviewing documentary television for the Times on a semi-regular basis. But this sort of cluster is hard not to notice, especially when one recalls McGrath’s ambivalence towards younger contemporary writers…If you’re out there, Chip, can we put in a good word for Louis Auchincloss for next week? Because The Young Apollo is awfully good!

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