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For an entire generation of writers, Michiko Kakutani acted at times as intrepid champion, hated villain or helping hand. But from her perch as chief book critic at 

, the Pulitzer Prize winner rarely left one thing in doubt: her vast influence over the literary world she assessed.


On Thursday, after 38 years, Kakutani announced she is stepping down.


"It is with profound gratitude for her tremendous service to readers of The Times and readers of books everywhere that we take a moment to recognize her remarkable contributions over the past four decades," editors Pamela Paul and Parul Sehgal 

 Thursday.
"She has been one of our signature writers," 

 to the paper's staff. "It is hard to imagine the story of the modern New York Times without a hefty chapter bearing her name."


Name a marquee author of the past several decades, and it's just about certain that leading light was subjected to Kakutani's scrutiny, along with hundreds of others. And a big name was far from a guarantor of a favorable review.


She was there to celebrate Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's 

 — and to deride Morrison's later work, 

 She was as prepared to label Don Delillo's 

"a dazzling, phosphorescent work of art."


It is perhaps this inclination toward mercilessness that earned Kakutani a fair share of critics in her own right — including 

 and Nicholson Baker, who said reading her reviews of his books was "like having my liver taken out without anaesthesia."

"Bless her heart, she has reviewed seven of my books and I think she may have liked two and a half of them," Baker 

. "You know, so she always gives me a bad review, and she just doesn't like my kind of writing."
But 

 that along with this bitterness often came respect:



"It was like having the good fairy touch you on the shoulder with her wand," Karr said of 

 she got from Kakutani. The review "was mostly about what a genius I was," Karr laughed, "so yeah, she's my best friend."
Kakutani said Thursday she may be leaving criticism, but she will not be leaving writing. "Moving on to focus on longer pieces about politics & culture," 

, "though i will always love & write about books."
As a commemoration of her career in criticism, the 

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Colin Dwyer

Author

For 38 years the Pulitzer Prize winner was one of the most influential voices in the world of books. During her tenure, she lauded -- or lambasted -- just about all of this generation's great writers.

Michiko Kakutani, chief 'Times' book critic, steps down after nearly 4 decades

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