I had missed this Slate piece on how Webb responded to the book attack at a Charlottesville event–it’s so very Webb:

Instead of exploding the whole bizarre smear campaign with one devastating line, he pulls from his pocket a list of his novels’ reviews and begins to read: His novels are required reading in the Marine Corps. They were required reading for college courses on Vietnam. He quotes the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post and the Washington Times. Everyone agrees his novels were important works on the ravages of war. It goes on too long, and he’s clearly upset. But why is he dwelling on this?
He then tries to laugh it off: “I never believed when I ran for the Senate I’d be reading reviews of my novels.” But he says he wants to make two points here: “I’ve lived a literary life, and I’m proud of it.” More important still: “I have lived in the real world and reported on the real world.”