Lee Siegel

The Web critic relies on his or her readers for attentiveness and approval.

I react very badly when mediocrity throws a tantrum of entitlement.

Anonymity is a universal convention of the blogosphere, and the wicked expedience is that you can speak without consequences.

The scene changes but the aspirations of men of good will persist.

The basic parts, the start-up molecules, can be supplied in abundance and don't have to be made by some elaborate process. That immediately makes things simpler.

Most detective story readers are an educated audience and know there are only a certain number of plots. The interest lies in what the writer does with them.