61 Starling – Note praise of someone’s “poetic prose” in the body of this review. What the hell = wouldn’t mind if Tony Blair picked up a copy of FIRST OF THE YEAR – he blurbs the rag that ran this piece..

http://www.democratiya.com/review.asp?reviews_id=257

Not all that suprised you get along well with academics who disagree w/ you re O. Could it be that you share a certain high condescenciou toward us “committed” illiterate who, ah, proudly write pieces and edit books for readers not locked into the specialized discourses of the Academy (or imperssonal tones favored by other denizens of the Ivory Tower’s never-never land…

BTW – the reviewer who praised my prose is probably closer to you than you think. He locked on style – positively rather than negatively – as a way of avoiding actual arguments. Found a way to hosannah me and my rag while bowing down LOWER to Establishment journals – NYRB, the TImes, the New Yorker – that we’ve taken on from the jump. Misrepresened my “confessions” on Iraq alonkg the way…A little lesson in the corruptions of academe…