Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion (the monthly arts and letters journal based in New York). On January 10, under the rubric of “The Critic’s Notebook” at TNC, he wrote the following:
“Fans of Jay Nordlinger, rejoice! The maestro has just vouchsafed us another literary cornucopia with Digging In: Further Collected Writings of Jay Nordlinger. Christmas was last month, but that doesn’t mean you cannot click now to snag a copy of Jay’s latest, a collection of profiles (the good, the bad, the admonitory), reflections, delectations, and (just a few) laments.
“This companionable book ranges over politics, music (is there a better music critic now writing?), travel, and more. As the jacket blurb promises, there is ‘something for everyone’ here, all served up in Jay’s signature beguiling prose.
“Jay may be the best, the most effective interviewer I’ve ever encountered: he gets right to the heart of things but with infinite tact and delicacy. There is no prurient search for scandal, no ‘Gotcha!,’ just a patient invitation to the interviewee to tell his story and unfold as much, or as little, of his spirit as he wishes.
“There is plenty of criticism in this volume, especially those essays dealing with politics, but it, like its author, is an essentially affirmative work.
“You will want to have this book with you for weeks on end. After every dip you’ll feel that the world is a slightly better, more orderly place than it was before you started.
“Congratulations on another masterpiece.”