The former New York Times editor really must set an all-time world’s record for self-involved pomposity. He explains the theme of his new book about his dismissal from the New York Times after his tempestuously brief reign as follows: “When you see a person in a prominent position have a misfortune, or even in your personal life if there is somebody whose personality or politics you don’t like, you say he had it coming or she had it coming….The point I wanted this book to make is we all have it coming — we just don’t know when it’s going to happen. That is to say loss is the most universal experience of all. We will eventually lose our loved ones, we will lose our lives and you hope it takes place in a gradual eloquent way. It may take place in a calm way but none of us should ever forget that loss is woven into the fabric of life and that’s really what literature is about.”

Jeez.