Martin Schneider writes:

In the New York Times Magazine, Charles McGrath (father of Ben) makes the case that John Cheever is sorely due for a revival. Since he’s better than the recently canonized Richard Yates, this does seem both likely and proper. The success of Mad Men, set in Ossining, Cheever’s hometown, should help.
Meanwhile, the otherwise excellent New York Review of Books brings us Julian Barnes’s fatuous review of the new George Packer editions of George Orwell’s essays. I’m an Orwell nut of long standing, dedicated my (poor) senior thesis to his work, have committed the CEJL to memory (true Orwell fanatics instantly recognize that abbreviation), and grow impatient with Barnes’s denigrating tone and determination to ignore the volumes under review. Both Georges deserve better.