Literary and cultural critic Daniel Mendelsohn and former editor of *The New York Times Book Review* Charles McGrath examine the ways in which criticism itself becomes a creative act.
Daniel Mendelsohn is a cultural critic whose reviews and essays on literary and cultural subjects appear regularly in numerous publications, including *The New Yorker* and *The New York Review of Books*. His previous books include the collection of critical essays How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken, the memoir *The Elusive Embrace*, a *New York Times* Notable Book of the Year and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, and the international bestseller *The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million*, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Prix Médicis, and many other honors. Mr. Mendelsohn is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing and the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. He teaches at Bard College.
Charles McGrath is an American editor and journalist. He is the former editor of *The New York Times Book Review* and *The New Yorker*. He contributes frequently to *The New York Times Magazine*, *Golf Digest*, and other publications.