The Hinterland
Rants from the hinterland. A Denver writer and pretend anthropologist rips into artistic treason and random acts of ethical violence.
May also contain gushes of enthusiasm.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005


Frank Rich nearly gets his due

The Pulitzers.

Often maddening in their choices, and yet the distinction still carries a lot of clout for some reason.

So for all the frustration they cause, I might as well point out when they sort-of recognize someone really worthy.

Frank Rich did not get one of the little (medals?) this year, but he was named as a finalist for the criticism award:

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Frank Rich of The New York Times for boldly exploring the influence of popular culture on American politics and society, and Carlin Romano of The Chronicle of Higher Education for bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics.

"Boldly exploring . . ." That's a pretty good capsulization. I'm not sure anyone's ever done a column quite like this before, at least anywhere near this prominently. If you haven't checked him out since he switched from the op-ed page back to Sunday Arts, it's really something.

The clash of art and politics. When he first started it (two years ago already?) I thought he could never keep it up week to week. Where would he possibly get enough material?

The fact that the column never feels like it's scratching for material is a revelation in itself. Who know those worlds were interacting so intensely.

It's what George Magazine aspired to be but never came close to realizing.

Frank does. Week after week. Wonderfully.

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(I've got a permanent link to his latest columns on the right side of this blog, if you ever want to get to it easily. It's the first entry under "More Great Sites," right under the blogroll.)
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