"The last unmissable proper diary column left in journalism."―
Simon Jenkins "[
NB by J. C. is] full of lore about the
TLS and its storied contributors, among them Virginia Woolf; reflections on composing a weekly column, which emerges as a test of endurance, versatility, and compositional quickness; notes on the experience of working under successive editorial regimes as well as the Murdoch super-regime; and remarks on the correspondence a popular and sometimes esoteric literary column can generate."―
Christian Lorentzen
"The secret of J. C.'s weekly column is its unique mix of anonymity with intimacy: this 'stranger', whom we meet over our morning coffee, is the most discreet and delightful of guides to what's happening―good or mostly bad―in the literary world, with all its pretensions, follies, and occasional triumphs. I especially relished J. C.'s prizes―for the worst prose or the silliest blurb. Then again, leave it to J. C. to find the rare edition, the forgotten book of poems that deserves another look. True wit, coupled with wisdom: it's the rarest of writerly feats."―
Marjorie Perloff, author of The Vienna Paradox: A Memoir
"I receive immense pleasure from J. C.'s columns. Something more than pleasure: warmth, laughter, gratitude (especially when he is nailing academic unreadability)."–
Vivian Gornick, author of Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader
"For many years, Campbell appeared each week in the
Times Literary Supplement, where his back-page essay–ironic, bookish and irresistibly entertaining–was every subscriber's favorite feature."–
Michael Dirda, Washington Post, on James Campbell's NB column
PRAISE FOR JAMES CAMPBELL'S OTHER BOOKS: "A life-sized portrait in very broad strokes . . . A lively book that is immensely readable, serious, careful, and informed."―
Boston Globe on
Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin "A marvelously illuminating literary biography . . . [and] an affectionate yet critical portrait."―
Publishers Weekly on
Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin
"This deftly written memoir . . . is the story of a writer finding his own voice."―
The Wall Street Journal on
Just Go Down to the Road
"Just Go Down to the Road brings an exciting time in world and literary history to life. It's a remarkable travel account that began with the simple suggestion: 'Just go down to the road, Jim. You'll get a lift .'"―
Foreword Reviews on
Just Go Down to the Road "[A] brilliantly sympathetic and compelling analysis of the Beat phenomenon."―
The Guardian on
This Is the Beat Generation "Campbell is simply one of the rare critics on whom, to cite Henry James, 'nothing is lost.'"―
Marjorie Perloff on
Syncopations "A witty and insightful look at a fascinating, romantic land by a native son."―
Library Journal on
Invisible Country
