Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Welty as Reviewer


Welty was a very prolific book reviewer. Did you know that she wrote a review of the delightful children's book, Charlotte's Web? Her review was published in The New York Times on October 19, 1952--almost precisely fifty-seven years ago today. It's hard to believe that Charlotte and Wilbur are that old!

Here's an excerpt from that review:

"What the book is about is friendship on earth, affection and protection, adventure and miracle, life and death, trust and treachery, pleasure and pain, and the passing of time. As a piece of work it is just about perfect, and just about magical in the way it is done. What it all proves -- in the words of the minister in the story which he hands down to his congregation after Charlotte writes "Some Pig" in her web -- is "that human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders."

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