A critical eye for detail. John Sutherland is an immensely popular literary critic — some thought that a contradiction in terms — who “examine(s), with forensic precision, neglected details and

apparent anomalies in classic novels and plays, and thus inject(s) new life into well-loved

literature. He has been instrumental in reviving the art of close reading at a time

when many literary academics use deconstruction and other arcane theory to place

themselves between readers and books, with the result that criticism becomes a

narcissistic end in itself, rather than a skill that deepens the pleasure of reading.”