Hello everyone, I'm Gilbert Cruz and this is the Book Review Podcast.

Recently, two giants of modern American literature died within a single day of each other.

The author, Kormack McCarthy, and the editor, Robert Gottlieb.

The two never worked together, but it's fascinating to me to imagine Gottlieb, who is argued

with historian Robert Carro for half a century over punctuation marks, editing Kormack McCarthy,

a man who rejected the use of quotation marks, semi-colons, and other such fribery.

Then again, as Gottlieb has said, the first thing editors have to remember is,

it's a service job. It's not your book.

So, I don't know, maybe the two of them would have gotten along just fine.

At any rate, it was a double blow for the world of books, and on this week's episode,

we have members of the New York Times Book Review, present and former,

to discuss the life-worked influence of both men.

First, our critic Dwight Garner, who wrote Kormack McCarthy's obituary,

and then, after the break, a former editor of the Book Review,

who recounts a Bob Gottlieb story or two.

So Dwight, you wrote the obituary for Kormack McCarthy,

who, starting with the orchard keeper, way back in 1965,

and ending with Stella Maris last year, wrote 12 novels.

What was your relationship to him as a reader?

What a career.

I remember Gilbert, when I was just coming of age as a real reader.

I mean, I came of age earlier than this, but it was like 1992,

...