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Article: A brighter, clearer light.(book on popular German book reviewer)
- Article from:
- New Criterion
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Foundation for Cultural Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Marcel Reich-Ranicki, The Author of Himself: The Life of Marcel Reich-Ranicki, translated by Barbara Bray. Princeton University Press, 404 pages, $35
There is no American counterpart to Germany's critical impresario, Marcel Reich-Ranicki. Known, with a rather pointed admiration, as the "literature pope," Reich-Ranicki, or MRR, revitalized the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's book section in the 1970s during his fifteen-year tenure as literary editor. In 1988 he became a household name with his hour-long televised talk-show "Literarische Quartett" (Literary Quartet). Six times a year for thirteen years, he and three other critics discussed five ...