6 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020
Christopher Hitchens will have to
take Tom Bissell’s word for it, in
his review of Martin Amis’s “In-
side Story” (Nov. 1), that
Hitchens was a friend of human-
ity, as well as Amis’s assurance
that Hitchens felt pangs of re-
morse.
Many of us confined to seeing
Hitchens’s TV appearances and
reading his literary output during
the Clinton impeachment farce
and Iraq war debacle may have
been misled by his truculent
manner, refusal to engage in real
argument and reliance on ad
hominem to make his cases.
TERRY BENOIT
PORT CHESTER, N.Y.TO THE EDITOR:
Am I the only reader of the Book
Review who often wonders, “Isthis reviewer seeing his or her
task at hand as an opportunity
for self-promotion?”
As an example, I cite Bissell’s
review, where “I” and “my”
frequently appear, and where we
are treated to his recounting of
another review he wrote 20
years ago, making it clear for us
that he is an experienced re-
viewer!
Perhaps careful editing is in
order so readers can get a more
uncluttered review of the book at
hand.
RICHARD E. HURLEY
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF.TO THE EDITOR:
I thought I was just sitting down
to some words to accompany my
breakfast as I began to read
Bissell’s review of “Inside Story.”
Instead I was treated to an
astonishing piece of writing.
What a pleasure to read a
review — the fourth I’ve read of
Amis’s book — that showed the
writer to be so deeply percep-
tive, generous and humorous in
the most elevated sense of that
word.
To my shame the review was
my first contact with Tom Bis-
sell, but it won’t be the last.
Thank you for your continued
excellence, Book Review. Long
may you wave.
POLLY CONE
SAN DIEGO[email protected]Letters
KRISTEN RADTKEThe 11th HourTO THE EDITOR:
Ienjoyed all the uses that books
could have at the end of the world,
as imagined in Kristen Radtke’s
back-page Sketchbook (Nov. 1),
but didn’t she leave out the most
obvious book of all — the Bible?
I also wonder about the appro-
priateness of the authors. James
Joyce for zombie defense? A Kurt
Vonnegut tray for serving Spam?
Herman Melville as a peace
offering? At least the books fuel-
ing the campfire are untitled,
although I could name quite a
few that should be used that way.
J. R. SOLONCHE
BLOOMING GROVE, N.Y.Pieces of WorkTO THE EDITOR:
Observers who didn’t knowIn the face of the grim recur-
rence of a racism many thought
was gone forever, the renewed
popularity of Malcolm X has
taken on new importance. The
signs of his ascent all are a
response to the current need for
a confrontational stance toward
this country’s continuing rac-
ism and the seductive mythol-
ogy of the perfect Black man.
Thus it is that Malcolm X’s
name no longer belongs to him,no longer refers simply to his
tall body or to his short life.
Like Martin Luther King Jr.,
Malcolm has come to mean
more than himself. For some, he
was an unreconstructed nation-
alist; for others, a man who
wed his nationalist beliefs to
socialist philosophy. Still others
subject him to Marxist and
Freudian analysis, while others
emphasize his vocation as a
public moralist. No matter howhe is pigeonholed, his stature
derives as much from his de-
tractors’ exaggerated fears as
from his admirers’ exalted
hopes. He has become a divided
metaphor: For those who love
him, he is a powerful lens for
self-perception, a means of
sharply focusing political and
racial priorities; for those who
loathe him, he is a distorting
mirror that reflects violence
and hatred.From Our Archives
Michael P. Jeffries reviews Les Payne and Tamara Payne’s book,
“The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X,” in this week’s issue.
In 1992, Michael Eric Dyson wrote for the Book Review about a
select group of books that examine Malcolm X’s life.The All-in-One Resource
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