The bad news is that it's easier to find needles in haystacks than it is to find people who are truly gifted to see what is really going on in a particular piece of art. Yet once we've located a few of those needles, we still have to measure them by the second of my three standards. Such reviewers, besides having good insights, need also to be able to write with uncommon clarity and interest. But if the first search left only a handful of people, this second standard eliminates most of the handful. That's why it's so painful to have to push on to a third level of elimination.
Arrogance has little place in such a setting.
But then a startling thought overwhelmed me. For in one sense, a newsmagazine is itself an extended review. Yes, we review books and movies and television programs and music albums. But we also review political happenings, social patterns, educational developments, scientific breakthroughs, and economic shifts. You want me to go to the heart of the matter and tell you what really happened.