New York Times
Charles Isherwood has decided that he’s “rapped Adam Rapp’s knuckles enough for a lifetime [so] I’d like to hand the ruler to someone else next time.”
By this point Mr. Rapp surely knows where I stand on his work, which is to say (perhaps from his point of view) jumping up and down on it.
Oh not really. My assessments of Mr. Rapp’s plays have been honest and, I hope, clear-headed and persuasively argued, if rarely enthusiastic.
The critic says it’s time to let Rapp’s writing be assessed by another Times critic “who responds more naturally or sympathetically to his aesthetic. Criticism is, after all, a subjective form of writing.” Isherwood notes that his editor hasn’t agreed yet and asks his readers what they think. He’s getting mixed reactions in the comments section: one reader calls the critic brave “for being open about the predisposition,” while another writes: “Good Lord. I can’t believe your editor agreed to publish this. You should all be ashamed.”
> From 2006: Rapp is puzzled by Isherwood’s review of “Red Light Winter”
