The Irresponsible Self

Wood is one of the finest critics at work today, heir to Coleridge, Hazlitt and V. S. Pritchett...He combines the breadth and seriousness of Edmund Wilson with the pellucid prose style of Cyril Connolly...Wood pursues his craft with a high seriousness the like of which we had not thought to see again after the death of Lionel Trilling -- John Banville * Irish Times *
Breathtakingly good... James Wood is pretty much as good a general critic of literary fiction as you'll find writing in English at the moment * The Times *
A stylish writer as well as a clear-sighted reader. His prose bristles with the sort of epigrammatic brilliance that asks challenging questions even when providing answers * Spectator *
The most urgent and morally demanding critic around is the brilliant James Wood... A second powerful collection * Guardian *
This is a collection to be read by anyone who wouldn't normally dream of reading literary criticism * Financial Times *
It is [Wood's] secure observation that makes these essays so engaging and ultimately puts this corrective missionary critic on the side of the secular angels -- Russell Celyn Jones * The Times *
In a literary world which is so often either relaxed into the flabby indifference of review-speak, or corseted into position with the strings and eyelets of critical jargon, James Wood's tone is invaluable -- Robert MacFarlane * Times Literary Supplement *
He is one of literature's true lovers, and his deeply felt, contentious essays are thrilling in their reach and moral seriousness -- Susan Sontag
James Wood is an authentic literary critic, very rare in this bad time. One can dissent gently from his judgements but he is always urgent, lucid, and interesting * Harold Bloom *