“[Claire] Messud is listening stoically, and I begin to wonder if she might even be a little jealous of this unhinged narrator.”

— One of the comments on this New York Magazine profile of Claire Messud and James Wood (imagine you are married to Wood, and how people treat your writing as a result, including in this profile. Frustrating) notes “You have failed to capture Claire’s charm, humor, and warmth,” which I think is quite correct. I found this profile to be predatory, sloppy (Milton Academy is not, as implied, in Connecticut) and sexist - like the similar Fiona Apple piece - even if it’s clear that the author admires Messud’s faultless novels and writing. He also does not understand the dynamics of Cambridge and Somerville that are captured quite well in The Woman Upstairs.