Faced with the average book of modern literary criticism, the reviewer may wisely resolve to say nothing about the author's skills as a writer of prose. If they ever existed, they would very likely have been dissembled, for many now believe that to write well is to act in bad faith, even to risk the charge of fascism. This belief may not at first glance seem compatible with the opinion that poetry and criticism are indistinguishable - both of them just writing; even less with the view that in our present situation literary criticism and theory are in fact the highest kind of poetry available.

LRB 22 January 1987 | PDF Download