If only the author were as smart as he thinks he is.
I just reacquainted myself with Jonathan Raban by going to his website. A must read is his piece of the Obama Inaugural Speech, where he meanders on for thousands of words, and manages both to say nothing but also to promote the idea that Obama is a brilliant writer on his own (for DREAMS FROM MY FATHER) and the finest orator of his generation. You can’t read this stuff without both getting embarrassed at the fawning tone of subservience, AND the shock of recognition at how much like tabloid gossip so-called intellectual writing has become.