Michiko Kakutani (born January 9, 1955) is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...
in 1998.
Early life and family
Kakutani, a
Japanese American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
, was born on January 9, 1955, in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. She is the only child of Yale
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
Shizuo Kakutani
was a Japanese-American mathematician, best known for his eponymous fixed-point theorem.
Biography
Kakutani attended Tohoku University in Sendai, where his advisor was Tatsujirō Shimizu. At one point he spent two years at the Institute for ...
and his wife Keiko ("Kay") Uchida. Her father was born in Japan, her mother was a second-generation Japanese-American who was raised in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
.
Kakutani's aunt,
Yoshiko Uchida
Yoshiko Uchida (November 24, 1921 – June 21, 1992) was an award-winning Japanese American writer of children's books based on aspects of Japanese and Japanese American history and culture. A series of books, starting with ''Journey to Topaz'' ...
, was an author of children's books.
[ Kakutani received her bachelor's degree in English literature from ]Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 1976, where she studied under author and Yale writing professor John Hersey
John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to n ...
, among others.[.]
Career
Kakutani initially worked as a reporter for ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and then from 1977 to 1979 for ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine, where Hersey had worked. In 1979, she joined ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' as a reporter.
Literary critic
Kakutani was a literary critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 until her retirement in 2017. She gained particular notoriety for her sometimes-biting reviews of books from famous authors, with ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' remarking that "her name became a verb, and publishers have referred to her negative reviews as 'getting Kakutani'ed'".
Many authors who received such reviews gave harsh public responses: in 2006, Kakutani called Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...
's ''The Discomfort Zone
''The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History'' is a 2006 memoir by Jonathan Franzen, who received the National Book Award for Fiction for his novel ''The Corrections'' in 2001.
Themes
According to ''L'espresso'', ''The Discomfort Zone'' reflects t ...
'' "an odious self-portrait of the artist as a young jackass." Franzen subsequently called Kakutani "the stupidest person in New York City". In 2012, Kakutani wrote a negative review of Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (; alternatively ''Nessim ''or'' Nissim''; born 12 September 1960) is a Lebanese-American essayist, mathematical statistician, former option trader, risk analyst, and aphorist whose work concerns problems of randomness, ...
's '' Antifragile''. In 2018, Taleb stated in his book ''Skin in the Game'' that "someone has to have read the book to notice that a reviewer is full of baloney, so in the absence of skin in the game, reviewers such as Michiko Kakutani" can "go on forever without anyone knowing" that they are fabricating and drunk. According to Kira Cochrane
Kira Cochrane (; born 1977) is a British journalist and novelist. She is the Head of Features at ''The Guardian,'' and worked previously as Head of Opinion. Cochrane is an advocate for women's rights, as well as an active participant in fourth ...
in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', such counterattacks may have bolstered Kakutani's reputation as commendably "fearless."
She has been known to write reviews in the voice of movie or book characters, including Brian Griffin
H. Brian Griffinas shown in Brian Griffin's House of Payne is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. An anthropomorphic white labrador retriever voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is one of the show's mai ...
, Austin Powers
''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...
, Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...
, Elle Woods of ''Legally Blonde
''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...
'', and Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
's character Holly Golightly in '' Breakfast at Tiffany's''.
On July 19, 2007, ''The New York Times'' published a pre-release story written by Kakutani about ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the seventh and final novel of the main ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publi ...
''. An account of the ensuing controversy, including the critical comments of some Harry Potter fans, can be found on the newspaper's Public Editor's blog.
Kakutani was parodied in the essay "I Am Michiko Kakutani" by one of her former Yale classmates, Colin McEnroe
Colin McEnroe (born 1954) is an American columnist and radio personality. He hosts ''The Colin McEnroe Show'' on Connecticut Public Radio, writes a weekly column that runs in eight Hearst Communications, and writes a newsletter also for Hearst.
B ...
.
Kakutani announced that she was stepping down as chief book critic of the ''Times'' on July 27, 2017.[ In an article summarizing her book reviewing career, a writer in '' Vanity Fair'' called her "the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world" and credited her with boosting the careers of ]George Saunders
George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...
, Mary Karr
Mary Karr (born January 16, 1955) is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas. She is widely noted for her 1995 bestselling memoir ''The Liars' Club''. Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracus ...
, David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...
, Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...
, Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...
, Martin Amis, and Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...
.[
]
Later work
In 2018, Kakutani published a book criticizing the Trump administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
titled ''The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump''. In it, Kakutani draws parallels between postmodern philosophy and the number of false statements made by Trump. In an interview for the book, she argued:
Kakutani's second book, ''Ex-Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Re-Read'', an essay collection about books that she considers personally and culturally influential, was published in 2020.
Personal life
Kakutani is a fan of the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
. , she lives on the Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of Manhattan.
During her career at ''The New York Times'', Kakutani developed a reputation as an extremely private person who was seldom seen in public, with articles describing her as "mysterious" and "reclusive". Shawn McCreesh, writing in ''New York'' magazine, said that "you were likelier to have seen a snow leopard in Manhattan than to meet Kakutani in the wild". However, upon the publication of ''The Death of Truth'', Kakutani began giving interviews to print outlets, though she declined to appear on television.[
]
Media references
* A fictionalized account of Kakutani's life entitled "Michiko Kakutani and the Sadness of the World!" was published in the online and print magazine ''Essays & Fictions''.
* She is referenced in an episode of the HBO series ''Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...
''. In "Critical Condition" (season 5, episode 6), Carrie Bradshaw
Caroline Marie "Carrie" Bradshaw is a fictional character from the HBO franchise ''Sex and the City'', portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. Candace Bushnell created Carrie as a semi-autobiographical character for her column "Sex and the City" in ...
releases a book that Kakutani reviews. Various characters deem the critic's name "too hard to pronounce," including Miranda Hobbes
Miranda Hobbes is a fictional character on the American HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its subsequent film spinoffs, and HBO Max revival '' And Just Like That...''. She is played by actress Cynthia Nixon. Nixon received an Emmy Aw ...
, who memorably states, "Just don't say her name again — it'll push me over the edge."
* She was referenced in an episode of Luca Guadagnino
Luca Guadagnino (; born 10 August 1971) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are often characterized by their emotional complexities, sensuality and sumptuous visuals. He is also known for his frequent collaboration ...
's limited HBO series ''We Are Who We Are
''We Are Who We Are'' is a 2020 coming-of-age drama television miniseries co-created and directed by Luca Guadagnino for HBO and Sky Atlantic. A coming-of-age story set on a fictional U.S. military base in Chioggia, Italy in 2016, the series f ...
''. During the episode "Right Here, Right Now V", Fraser looks up Kakutani's review of '' The Kindly Ones'' after the book is recommended by his crush Jonathan.
* Comedian and ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' cast member Bowen Yang
Bowen Yang ( zh, link=no, 楊伯文; born November 6, 1990) is an Australian-born American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer based in New York City. He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, '' Las Culturistas,'' with Matt Rogers. Since Se ...
performed an impression of Kakutani during his audition for the show, later joking that she was perfect for an impression since many are unaware of what she looks or sounds like.[
]
Publications
*
*
Awards
*1998: Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for Criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakutani, Michiko
1955 births
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American women writers
American literary critics
American women critics
American women journalists of Asian descent
American women non-fiction writers
American writers of Japanese descent
American women writers of Asian descent
Critics employed by The New York Times
Critics of postmodernism
Living people
People from the Upper West Side
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners
The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners
The Washington Post journalists
Time (magazine) people
Women literary critics
Writers from Manhattan
Writers from New Haven, Connecticut
Yale College alumni