Apologia pro vita sua

… Uncensored John Simon: Critics and Criticism. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

As my readers will recall, I have always inveighed against the bleary journalism practiced by newspaper reviewers, as opposed to the real criticism performed by, well, critics. The former are barely more often right than stopped watches managing it twice a day, or like that bore trying to justify himself to the great and witty French actor Lucien Guitry, by saying “I speak as I think.” “Yes,” agreed Lucien, “but more often.”

I guess Simon distinguishes himself from  newspaper reviewers because he wrote for New York magazine. My former colleague Cliff Ridley, however, was as fine a writer and sharp a critic as any.