When the Kissing Had to Stop

Book excerpt: One of the Voice Literary Supplement's "25 Favorites," the acclaimed critic's essays on contemporary literature and pop culture, now in paperback. Leading literary critic John Leonard is "the fastest wit in the East" (The New York Times Book Review) and a master at decoding the fears and longings that animate our popular culture. He is at his strongest in these "highly informed and cogently argued" (Publishers Weekly) essays on the best new literature of today and what it tells us about America now. When the Kissing Had to Stop shows how our great novelists and essayists, from Don DeLillo to Toni Morrison, can help us find some sense and sanity amid the dull roar of tabloids, talk shows, and the Disneyfication of everything. Chosen as one of the Voice Literary Supplement's "25 Favorites of 1999," When the Kissing Had to Stop is an exhilarating ride into the ferocious intellect of a literary gourmand.