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Entry: Wolfe's Howl Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/wolfes_folly#2018 Post contents: When I read Wolfe's review, I couldn't help picturing a cartoon in which a puny character futilely flails away at a giant who holds him at arm's length while gazing away at something else in utter boredom. The illogic, the pettiness, the utter stupidity of Wolfe's review, and the absolutely complete failure to grasp either the MAN or the THOUGHT of Kirk--a failure that could not escape anyone who had known Kirk closely as both my wife and I did, or who had read him extensively, as we both have done--are obvious on the face of the review. The sad thing is that someone in Wolfe's position would feel so envious, or bitter, or spiteful toward a far greater man that he would vent his spleen so viciously. The performance would not, of course, have surprised Kirk, whose experience and reading were wide enough that he must have seen the like hundreds of times. But it would have saddened him--not as a commentary on himself, but as a commentary on Wolfe. Professor Gottfried, you have answered Wolfe cogently but not completely--and that is fine, because Wolfe's screed doesn't deserve a thorough answer. To give it one is to take it seriously, which, though Wolfe might be foolish enough to do, mature readers will not. Sent at: 2008 07 20