I’m headed out the door to give a speech, but I did want to add my two cents’ worth about Sam Tanenhaus, the newly appointed editor of the New York Times Book Review, whom I’ve known for years (and whose Whittaker Chambers biography I reviewed in an essay reprinted in A Terry Teachout Reader). He’s absolutely first-rate, smart as a whip and as generous a colleague as you could hope to find. The Times couldn’t have made a better or more serious choice.
Said Bill Keller in the official announcement: “To anyone who might have fallen for the notion that we were looking to dumb down this precious franchise: take that!” I think he’s earned the right to crow a bit, and maybe even a bit more.