Michiko Kakutani

2025-05-24T01:22:43Z

76.136.112.80: /* Literary critic */ Altered sentence opening to be accurate to sources; because the sources support the conclusion of just two, to say "Many" is WP:OR or editorialising. (If a source says "many", we need to cite it, to return the earlier text.) Regarding rthe "young jackass" quotation—in this case, with two secondary sources cited, it would benefit the article to state the source of the original quotation as well.

{{Short description|American critic and writer (born 1955)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michiko Kakutani
| image = Michiko Kakutani at Tribeca Disruptive Innovation.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Accepting the 2018 [[Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|1|9}}
| birth_place = [[New Haven, Connecticut]], U.S.
| other_names = Michi
| employer = {{ubl|''[[The Washington Post]]'' ({{circa|1976}}–1977)|''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (1977–1979)|''[[The New York Times]]'' (1979–2017)}}
| awards = [[Pulitzer Prize for Criticism]] (1998)
| education = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| occupation = {{Hlist|Critic|author|journalist}}
| father = [[Shizuo Kakutani]]
| mother = Keiko Uchida
| relatives = [[Yoshiko Uchida]] (aunt)
}}

{{nihongo|'''Michiko Kakutani'''|ミチコ・カクタニ, [[wikt:角谷|角谷]] [[wikt:美智子|美智子]]||born January 9, 1955}} is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''[[The New York Times]]'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Criticism]] in 1998.

==Early life and family==
Kakutani, a [[Japanese American]], was born on January 9, 1955, in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]. She is the only child of Yale [[mathematician]] [[Shizuo Kakutani]] and Keiko "Kay" Uchida. Her father was born in Japan, and her mother was a second-generation Japanese-American who was raised in [[Berkeley, California]].<ref name=kakutanioped>{{citation |last=Kakutani |first=Michiko |title=I Know What Incarceration Does to Families. It Happened to Mine. | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 13, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/opinion/when-america-incarcerated-my-family.html}}</ref><ref name=niiya>{{cite web | last = Niiya | first = Bruce | title=Yoshiko Uchida|url=http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Yoshiko_Uchida/|publisher=[[Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project|Densho]]| access-date=July 14, 2018}}</ref> Kakutani's aunt, [[Yoshiko Uchida]], was an author of children's books.<ref name=kakutanioped/> Kakutani received her bachelor's degree in English literature from [[Yale University]] in 1976.<ref name= "pulitzer">{{cite web| year = 1998 | publisher = Pulitzer Prizes | title = Criticism — Biography | url = http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1998/criticism/bio/| access-date = July 9, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070704095158/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1998/criticism/bio/ |archive-date = July 4, 2007}}.</ref>

==Career==
Kakutani initially worked as a reporter for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', and then from 1977 to 1979 for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine. In 1979, she joined ''[[The New York Times]]'' as a reporter.<ref name="pulitzer" />

===Literary critic===
Kakutani was a literary critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 until her retirement in 2017.<ref name = "pulitzer" /> She gained particular notoriety for her sometimes-biting reviews of books from famous authors, with ''[[Slate (website)|Slate]]'' remarking that "her name became a verb, and publishers have referred to her negative reviews as 'getting Kakutani'ed'".<ref>{{cite news|url = https://slate.com/culture/2017/07/how-franzen-mailer-and-other-authors-responded-to-michiko-kakutani-s-reviews.html|title = "The Stupidest Person in New York City": How Authors Responded to Michiko Kakutani's Harshest Reviews|work = [[Slate (website)|Slate]]|date = July 27, 2017|accessdate = July 15, 2022|last = Martinelli|first = Marissa}}</ref>

More than one of the authors who had received such reviews gave harsh public responses. In 2006, Kakutani called [[Jonathan Franzen]]'s ''[[The Discomfort Zone]]'' "an odious self-portrait of the artist as a young jackass";{{cite quote}} Franzen subsequently called Kakutani "the stupidest person in New York City".<ref name="guardian booksblog">{{cite news|last1=Cochrane|first1=Kira|title=Don't mess with Michiko Kakutani|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/may/01/dontmesswithmichikokakutan|access-date=March 21, 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=April 30, 2008|language=en}}</ref><ref name=vanity>{{cite news|last1=Pompeo|first1=Joe|title=Michiko Kakutani, the Legendary Book Critic and the Most Feared Woman in Publishing, Is Stepping Down from The New York Times|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/michiko-kakutani-leaving-the-new-york-times|access-date=March 21, 2018|work=The Hive|date=2017|language=en}}</ref> In 2012, Kakutani wrote a negative review of [[Nassim Nicholas Taleb]]'s ''[[Antifragile (book)|Antifragile]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kakutani|first1=Michiko|title='Antifragile,' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/books/antifragile-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb.html| access-date=March 21, 2018| work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 16, 2012}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}}{{or|date=May 2025}} In 2018, writing about reviewers that include Kakutani—whether about the ''Antifragile'' review, or otherwise—six years after ''Antifragile'', Taleb stated that<blockquote>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 they are either fabricating or drunk (or, as I am certain, in the case of Kakutani, both)".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taleb|first1=Nassim Nicholas|title=Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life|date=2018|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780425284636|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dQ0DwAAQBAJ|language=en}}</ref></blockquote> (Daniel Takeshi, an academic computer scientist, responded to Taleb, stating, "If you can get used to Taleb’s idiosyncratic and pompous writing style, such as mocking... [[Thomas L. Friedman]]... and insulting Michiko Kakutani... there’s actually some nice insights".<ref>{{cite web | author = Takeshi, Daniel | date = December 31, 2022 | title = Books Read in 2022 | work = Seita's Place (danieltakeshi.github.io) |
url = https://danieltakeshi.github.io/2022/12/31/books-2022 | access-date = 23 May 2025}}</ref>) According to [[Kira Cochrane]] in ''[[The Guardian]]'', such counterattacks may have bolstered Kakutani's reputation as commendably "fearless."<ref name="guardian booksblog"/>

She has been known to write reviews in the voice of movie or book characters, including [[Brian Griffin]],<ref>{{cite news| last =Kakutani| first =Michiko | title =Marilyn, Dostoyevsky and Me, Her Pup| work = The New York Times | date =December 6, 2010| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/books/review/07book.html | access-date = December 6, 2010}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}} [[Austin Powers (character)|Austin Powers]],<ref>{{cite news| last = Kakutani | first = Michiko | title = Hipoisie and Chic-oisie And London Had the Mojo | work = The New York Times | date = July 23, 2002| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EED71738F930A15754C0A9649C8B63| access-date = July 9, 2007}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}} [[Holden Caulfield]],<ref>{{cite news | last = Kakutani | first = Michiko | title = Who's Afraid of Holden Caulfield?| work = The New York Times | date =August 23, 2005| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/books/23kaku.html | access-date = July 9, 2007}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}} Elle Woods of ''[[Legally Blonde]]'',<ref>{{cite news| last = Kakutani | first = Michiko | title =Digging For Gold In Stilettos And Silk| work = The New York Times | date =June 19, 2005| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/19/books/books-of-the-times-digging-for-gold-in-stilettos-and-silk.html | access-date = September 16, 2019}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}} and [[Truman Capote]]'s character Holly Golightly in ''[[Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella)|Breakfast at Tiffany's]]''.<ref>{{cite news| last =Kakutani| first =Michiko| title =Tru, Dear, There's Only One Holly. Moi.| work = The New York Times | date = October 24, 2005 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/books/24kaku.html| access-date = July 9, 2007}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}}{{or|date=May 2025}}

Kakutani announced that she was stepping down as chief book critic of the ''Times'' on July 27, 2017.<ref name=vanity/><ref>[http://www.nytco.com/michiko-kakutani-is-retiring/ "Michiko Kakutani Is Retiring"], Press Run, ''NYT'', July 27, 2017.</ref> In an article summarizing her book reviewing career, a writer in ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' called her "the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world" and credited her with boosting the careers of [[George Saunders]], [[Mary Karr]], [[David Foster Wallace]], [[Jonathan Franzen]], [[Ian McEwan]], [[Martin Amis]], and [[Zadie Smith]].<ref name=vanity/>

===Later work===
In 2018, Kakutani published a book criticizing the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] titled ''The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump''.<ref>{{cite news| last =Zack| first =Jessica| title =Book critic Michiko Kakutani takes on Trump in 'The Death of Truth'| work = San Francisco Chronicle | date =July 17, 2018| url =https://www.sfchronicle.com/books/article/Book-critic-Michiko-Kakutani-takes-on-Trump-in-13080326.php | access-date = July 19, 2018}}</ref> In it, Kakutani draws parallels between [[postmodern philosophy]] and the number of [[False or misleading statements by Donald Trump|false or misleading statements made by Trump]]. In an interview for the book, she argued:<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.vox.com/2018/7/25/17612566/trump-michiko-kakutani-new-york-times-book-critic|title = Michiko Kakutani, esteemed book critic, has finally written a book. It's about Trump.|work = [[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date = July 25, 2018|accessdate = July 15, 2022|last = Been|first = Eric Allen}}</ref>

{{blockquote|With its suspicion of grand, overarching narratives, postmodernism emphasized the role that perspective plays in shaping our readings of texts and events [...] and it opened the once-narrow gates of history to heretofore marginalized points of view. But as such, ideas seeped into popular culture and merged with the narcissism of the '[[Me Decade]]' [and] also led to a more reductive form of [[relativism]] that allowed people to insist that their opinions were just as valid as objective truths verified by scientific evidence or serious investigative reporting".}}

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.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/ex-libris-100-books-to-read-and-reread/about|title = Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread|website = Book Reporter|accessdate = July 14, 2022}}</ref>

In 2024, Kakutani published her third book, ''The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider''.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/574592/the-great-wave-by-michiko-kakutani/|title = The Great Wave|website = [[Penguin Random House]]|accessdate = February 20, 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Kakutani is a fan of the [[New York Yankees]].<ref name="In a Fan's Eyes">{{cite news|last1=Kakutani|first1=Michiko|title=In a Fan's Eyes, the World Turns Upside Down|work=The New York Times |date=October 22, 2004 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/22/sports/baseball/in-a-fans-eyes-the-world-turns-upside-down.html|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Insider's View of What Went Wrong in the Bronx">{{cite news|last1=Kakutani|first1=Michiko|title=Insider's View of What Went Wrong in the Bronx|work=The New York Times |date=January 26, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/sports/baseball/26review.html|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> {{As of|2018}}, she lives on the [[Upper West Side]] of Manhattan.<ref name = McCreesh>{{cite news|url = https://www.vulture.com/2018/07/michiko-kakutani-on-the-death-of-truth.html|title = 230 Minutes With Michiko Kakutani|last = McCreesh|first = Shawn|date = July 23, 2018|magazine = [[New York (magazine)|Vulture]]|accessdate = July 15, 2022|url-access = limited}}</ref>

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".<ref name = Dowd>{{cite web |last1=Dowd |first1=Maureen |title=Bowen Yang of 'S.N.L.' Is a Smash. And a Mensch. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/25/style/bowen-yang-snl.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=August 28, 2021 |date=January 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/11/martin-amis-review-michiko-kakutani|title = 'This remarkably tedious novel': Michiko Kakutani skewers Martin Amis|last = Pilkington|first = Ed|newspaper = [[The Guardian]]|date = May 11, 2010|accessdate = July 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/michiko-kakutani-you-know-when-you-ve-been-kakutanied-296386.html|title = Michiko Kakutani: You know when you've been Kakutanied|newspaper = [[The Independent]]|date = July 3, 2005|accessdate = July 15, 2022|last = Paulson|first = Steve}}</ref> Shawn McCreesh, writing in [[New York (magazine)|''New York'']] magazine, said that "you were likelier to have seen a snow leopard in Manhattan than to meet Kakutani in the wild".<ref name = McCreesh /> However, upon the publication of ''The Death of Truth'', Kakutani began giving interviews to print outlets, though she declined to appear on television.<ref name = McCreesh/>

==Media references==
* She is referenced in an episode of the HBO series ''[[Sex and the City]]''. In "Critical Condition" (season 5, episode 6), [[Carrie Bradshaw]] releases a book that Kakutani reviews. As Carrie obsesses over the review, Miranda Hobbes memorably states, "Just don't say her name again — it'll push me over the edge."<ref>{{cite web| last =Waters| first =Juliet| title =Candace Bushnell moves from chick lit to fem lit with ''Lipstick Jungle''| work =Montreal Mirror| date =October 13, 2005| url =http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/101305/books.html| access-date =July 9, 2007| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060512163958/http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/101305/books.html| archive-date =May 12, 2006}}</ref>
* Comedian and ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' cast member [[Bowen Yang]] 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.<ref name = Dowd/>

==Publications==
*{{cite book|title = The Poet at the Piano: Portraits of Writers, Filmmakers, Playwrights, and Other Artists at Work|publisher = [[Times Books]]|year = 1988|isbn = 978-0812912777}}
*{{cite book|title = The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump|publisher = [[Crown Publishing Group]]|year = 2018|isbn = 978-0525574828}}
*{{cite book|title = Ex-Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Re-Read|publisher = Crown Publishing Group|year = 2020|isbn = 9780525574972}}
*{{cite book|title = The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider|publisher = Crown Publishing Group|year = 2024|isbn = 9780525574996}}

==Awards==
*1998: [[Pulitzer Prize]] for [[Pulitzer Prize for Criticism|Criticism]]<ref name="pulitzer" />

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Japan|Biography|Literature}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Twitter}}
* {{Citation | url = http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/michiko_kakutani/ | format = archive | first = Michiko | last = Kakutani | title = The New York Times}}.
* {{Citation | title = Criticism | url = http://www.pulitzer.org/biography/1998-Criticism | publisher = Pulitzer Prize | format = biography | year = 1998}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.slate.com/id/2139452/ | title = Assessing Michiko Kakutani | first = Ben | last = Yagoda | journal = Slate | date = April 10, 2006}}.
* {{Citation | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/books/19read.html | title = From Books, President-elect Barack Obama Found His Voice | first = Michiko | last = Kakutani | newspaper = The New York Times | date = January 18, 2009}}.
* {{citation |last=Tamaki |first=Jillian |title=Interview: Michiko Kakutani By the Book. | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 12, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/books/review/michiko-kakutani-by-the-book.html}}.

{{PulitzerPrize Criticism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakutani, Michiko}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:American literary critics]]
[[Category:American women journalists of Asian descent]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American writers of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:American women writers of Asian descent]]
[[Category:The New York Times journalists]]
[[Category:American critics of postmodernism]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from the Upper West Side]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners]]
[[Category:The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners]]
[[Category:The Washington Post journalists]]
[[Category:Time (magazine) people]]
[[Category:American women literary critics]]
[[Category:Writers from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Writers from New Haven, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Yale College alumni]]

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Michiko Kakutani