Reading a great writer, without sense or sensibility.

Anna Wintour—already hauled up for such treatment in the roman à clef The Devil Wears Prada—again conjures vengeful spirits between covers, in Front Row.

The book industry's new numerical populism.

"The thing that really focused me was the sewers, which hadn't been well documented fictionally. I guess you could say my mind was in the gutter."

"I don't know [if I was trying to shock people]. I just try to entertain myself. And I'm highly entertained by sex."