Editorial Wayne Booth’s essay in this issue of The Kenyon Review attempts to revitalize the ancient metaphor of the author-reader relationship as a friendship. No doubt it will surprise some of the sophisticated, for to be in earnest about friendship is to risk the characteristic contemporary charge of sentimentality.
One can understand that reaction. At 2 P.M., on television, the housewife hears a knock at her door, opens it, and finds a friend in distress. “Janet, please. I need to talk.” Steaming coffee, a roaring fire, some talk of you and me. For a moment the pain is bearable.
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