Like most New York Jewish boys from liberal homes the paper was a
replacement religion for me. Many decades ago, when I was twenty-three and
published my first novel, finding a short positive review in the Book Review
validated me as a writer, enabling me to go on with my risky career. I was
published by them several times in the eighties when I was an officer of the
left-leaning International Association of Crime Writers. I owe a lot to the
Times. I also fear them because they review my books and movies. But I cannot
shut up. This kind of biased behavior is unconscionable.