Motoko Rich reports in the NYT arts section about the New Yorker hiring of James Wood after a twelve-year run as the literary critic for The New Republic. "In some literary circles," Rich notes, "Mr. Wood has been described as a brutal critic who has debunked many of the country's most admired writers, including Don DeLillo, Toni Morrison and Thomas Pynchon. Others regard him as one of the most respected critics of his generation."

To which I can only say two things: First of all, that's a false dichotomy if ever I saw one, and, second, it's not like Wood's some kind of radical for holding those positions: Michiko Kakutani hated Falling Man, Paradise, and Against the Day.

(photo by Miriam Berkley)