The Reader and His Ordeal

I wouldn't mention a review in the Wall Street Journal of Ada Louise Huxtable's new book on Frank Lloyd Wright -- typical as the review is in its mindless acclaim for Wright -- except for something truly odd and unusual about it, something I have never seen in major media and not at all since I was in junior high and was myself padding "book reports." 

The review is all of 682 words and yet devotes 477 words to an excerpt from the book. (The excerpt is an account of how Wright met one of his girlfriends which could have appeared in People.)

Word count says something.

The review is unsigned; for all we know it could have been written by Ms. Huxtable herself, who is that paper's "architectural critic."

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NOTE: Here's the link: The Architect and His Ordeal It's free and funny. And it illustrates the point that with a certain amount of fame, an auteur is immune from any serious consideration, that his work itself becomes untouchable. Of course I assume that's what every egotist wants.