Some lovely lines out there

I was struck by these simple bits of writerly goodness, today, walking around Paris chewing through my "to read" pile of articles. From The Times of London, Michael Holroyd wrote, in an article on George Bernard Shaw: "We appear to have more need these days of villains than of guides, philosophers and friends, more need of cautionary than exemplary tales." Writing about one of my favorite writers, John Lahr called Tom Stoppard's new play "his latest intellectual piñata". And, while I can't abide Christopher Hitchens' world view -- a view re-confirmed (both his and mine) by reading his piece in The Weekly Standard about history's reconsideration of the firebombings of Dresden and other German cities -- the bastard sure can write. ..