Michiko Kakutani Explained

Michiko Kakutani
Birth Date:9 January 1955
Birth Place:New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Other Names:Michi
Awards:Pulitzer Prize for Criticism (1998)
Education:Yale University (BA)
Father:Shizuo Kakutani
Mother:Keiko Uchida
Relatives:Yoshiko Uchida (aunt)

is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for The New York Times from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998.

Early life and family

Kakutani, a Japanese American, was born on January 9, 1955, in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the only child of Yale mathematician Shizuo Kakutani and Keiko "Kay" Uchida. Her father was born in Japan, and her mother was a second-generation Japanese-American who was raised in Berkeley, California.[1] Kakutani's aunt, Yoshiko Uchida, was an author of children's books. Kakutani received her bachelor's degree in English literature from Yale University in 1976, where she studied under author and Yale writing professor John Hersey, among others.[2]

Career

Kakutani initially worked as a reporter for The Washington Post, and then from 1977 to 1979 for Time magazine, where Hersey had worked. In 1979, she joined The New York Times as a reporter.

Literary critic

Kakutani was a literary critic for The New York Times from 1983 until her retirement in 2017. She gained particular notoriety for her sometimes-biting reviews of books from famous authors, with Slate remarking that "her name became a verb, and publishers have referred to her negative reviews as 'getting Kakutani'ed'".[3]

Many authors who received such reviews gave harsh public responses: in 2006, Kakutani called Jonathan Franzen's The Discomfort Zone "an odious self-portrait of the artist as a young jackass." Franzen subsequently called Kakutani "the stupidest person in New York City".[4] [5] In 2012, Kakutani wrote a negative review of Nassim Nicholas Taleb's Antifragile.[6] In 2018, Taleb stated in his book Skin in the Game that "someone has to have read the book to notice that a reviewer is full of baloney, so in the absence of skin in the game, reviewers such as Michiko Kakutani" can "go on forever without anyone knowing" that they are fabricating and drunk.[7] According to Kira Cochrane in The Guardian, such counterattacks may have bolstered Kakutani's reputation as commendably "fearless."[4]

She has been known to write reviews in the voice of movie or book characters, including Brian Griffin,[8] Austin Powers,[9] Holden Caulfield,[10] Elle Woods of Legally Blonde,[11] and Truman Capote's character Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.[12]

Kakutani announced that she was stepping down as chief book critic of the Times on July 27, 2017.[5] [13] In an article summarizing her book reviewing career, a writer in Vanity Fair called her "the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world" and credited her with boosting the careers of George Saunders, Mary Karr, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, Ian McEwan, Martin Amis, and Zadie Smith.[5]

Later work

In 2018, Kakutani published a book criticizing the Trump administration titled The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump.[14] In it, Kakutani draws parallels between postmodern philosophy and the number of false or misleading statements made by Trump. In an interview for the book, she argued:[15]

Kakutani's second book, Ex-Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Re-Read, an essay collection about books that she considers personally and culturally influential, was published in 2020.[16]

In 2024, Kakutani published her third book, The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider.[17]

Personal life

Kakutani is a fan of the New York Yankees.[18] [19], she lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[20]

During her career at The New York Times, Kakutani developed a reputation as an extremely private person who was seldom seen in public, with articles describing her as "mysterious" and "reclusive".[21] [22] [23] Shawn McCreesh, writing in New York magazine, said that "you were likelier to have seen a snow leopard in Manhattan than to meet Kakutani in the wild". However, upon the publication of The Death of Truth, Kakutani began giving interviews to print outlets, though she declined to appear on television.[20]

Media references

Publications

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Niiya . Bruce . Yoshiko Uchida. Densho. July 14, 2018.
  2. Web site: 1998 . Pulitzer Prizes . Criticism — Biography . July 9, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070704095158/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1998/criticism/bio/ . July 4, 2007. .
  3. News: "The Stupidest Person in New York City": How Authors Responded to Michiko Kakutani's Harshest Reviews. Slate. July 27, 2017. July 15, 2022. Martinelli. Marissa.
  4. News: Cochrane. Kira. Don't mess with Michiko Kakutani. March 21, 2018. the Guardian. April 30, 2008. en.
  5. News: Pompeo. Joe. Michiko Kakutani, the Legendary Book Critic and the Most Feared Woman in Publishing, Is Stepping Down from The New York Times. March 21, 2018. The Hive. 2017. en.
  6. News: Kakutani. Michiko. 'Antifragile,' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. March 21, 2018. The New York Times. December 16, 2012.
  7. Book: Taleb. Nassim Nicholas. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life. 2018. Random House Publishing Group. 9780425284636. 44. en.
  8. News: Kakutani. Michiko . Marilyn, Dostoyevsky and Me, Her Pup. The New York Times . December 6, 2010. December 6, 2010.
  9. News: Kakutani . Michiko . Hipoisie and Chic-oisie And London Had the Mojo . The New York Times . July 23, 2002. July 9, 2007.
  10. News: Kakutani . Michiko . Who's Afraid of Holden Caulfield?. The New York Times . August 23, 2005. July 9, 2007.
  11. News: Kakutani . Michiko . Digging For Gold In Stilettos And Silk. The New York Times . June 19, 2005. September 16, 2019.
  12. News: Kakutani. Michiko. Tru, Dear, There's Only One Holly. Moi.. The New York Times . October 24, 2005 . July 9, 2007.
  13. http://www.nytco.com/michiko-kakutani-is-retiring/ "Michiko Kakutani Is Retiring"
  14. News: Zack. Jessica. Book critic Michiko Kakutani takes on Trump in 'The Death of Truth'. San Francisco Chronicle . July 17, 2018. July 19, 2018.
  15. News: Michiko Kakutani, esteemed book critic, has finally written a book. It's about Trump.. Vox. July 25, 2018. July 15, 2022. Been. Eric Allen.
  16. Web site: Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread. Book Reporter. July 14, 2022.
  17. News: The Great Wave. Penguin Random House. February 20, 2024.
  18. News: Kakutani. Michiko. In a Fan's Eyes, the World Turns Upside Down. The New York Times . October 22, 2004 . November 19, 2016.
  19. News: Kakutani. Michiko. Insider's View of What Went Wrong in the Bronx. The New York Times . January 26, 2009 . November 19, 2016.
  20. News: 230 Minutes With Michiko Kakutani. McCreesh. Shawn. July 23, 2018. Vulture. July 15, 2022. limited.
  21. Web site: Dowd . Maureen . Bowen Yang of 'S.N.L.' Is a Smash. And a Mensch. . The New York Times . August 28, 2021 . January 25, 2020.
  22. News: 'This remarkably tedious novel': Michiko Kakutani skewers Martin Amis. Pilkington. Ed. The Guardian. May 11, 2010. July 15, 2022.
  23. News: Michiko Kakutani: You know when you've been Kakutanied. The Independent. July 3, 2005. July 15, 2022. Paulson. Steve.
  24. .
  25. Web site: Waters. Juliet. Candace Bushnell moves from chick lit to fem lit with Lipstick Jungle. Montreal Mirror. October 13, 2005. July 9, 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20060512163958/http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/101305/books.html. May 12, 2006.

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