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July 17, 2004
Another Critic for Stanley Crouch to Suckerpunch
by Ron HoganIn this Sunday's NYTBR, John Leonard tells Dale Peck, "Get over yourself," but not before quoting the pan from Peck that set off would-be novelist Crouch. And then going one further:
Never even mind Stanley Crouch, who dumped on Toni Morrison and so deserves finding out exactly what it feels like.
And Leonard feels the same way about Sven Birkerts as he does about Morrison... The other highlight of this week's book review, at least for me, was the two-page comics roundup from John Hodgman, much more fun than last Sunday's similarly themed magazine piece.
But the book review isn't the only place to get a good literary story this weekend. Saturday's Metro section offers a Dan Barry column centered around a chat with Ian Spiegelman, the Page Six second-stringer recently fired for snapping back at an irate semi-celeb. Vanessa Grigoriadis has all the details, if you can stand to read them...
Note to both Crouch and Peck: Good writers WRITE because they have TALENT; Bad writers PICK CHILDLESS FIGHTS with eachother because its the only way they'll be able to get any attention. Pick a new career path.
Posted by: Linda at August 15, 2004 01:59 PMSurely that's "childish" fights. And Dale Peck didn't exactly pick a fight with Stanley Crouch; he simply offered an honest opinion of the latter's novel, an opinion with which many sensible people concur--namely that Stanley Crouch is a lousy fiction writer. And Peck does have a reasonably decent track record as a novelist; I wouldn't say he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but he's better than Stanley Crouch.
Posted by: editor at August 15, 2004 02:09 PMyour PayPal donation
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