What he feared most was the blind spot between us and the future, the space between identities where we could get lost forever. - Wilfrid Sheed

When a reviewer says that Malamud is second only to Bellow, it means he really isn't thinking about either of them. When he's reading Malamud he's thinking about Bellow, and when he's reading Bellow he's thinking about Roth. This is the essence of the ratings game: distraction. Children play it all the time. "Is this the biggest bridge in the world?" "No, it's the third biggest." "Oh." They lose all interest in the bridge.

How does one make a movie about decadence these days? Now that we're allowed to do it, it's too late.

The desire not to destroy the palace but to move into it oneself has always been the occupational curse of revolutionaries.