Wolfe

[MalignD at aol.com]

<<I completely agree with you.  Unfortunately he's able to convince an 
audience that he's really smart, and that he really believes what he's 
writing about.  I don't believe either about him.  Pseudo-controversy with a 
smug smirk on the side is how I'd call his game.>>

It's folly to say he isn't smart; there's an awful lot of evidence to the 
contrary.  He's grown more rightist and somewhat less funny as he's aged, no 
doubt, and a little crotchety:  his recent essay  in the NY Times magazine 
about a wretched DC sculptor was devoid of wit and a bit of a screed.  But 
his non-journalistic, non-fiction writing, i.e., his essays on art and 
literature, are, at their best, (e.g., The Painted Word) no more than 
semi-serious.  He's pulling beards, as my father might have said and, I'm 
sure, couldn't be more pleased that serious people take him entirely 
seriously.

The best of his journalism is untouchable.  Read Radical Chic or Mau-Mauing 
the Flak Catchers, or his piece about Junior Johnson or Electric Kool-Aid Acid
 Test or The Right Stuff.  It's great writing.