Something you rarely read in a peer review of fiction is a juicy, negative truth. When you do, it often develops into a thrilling feud or a grudge that lasts for decades – witness Maurice Sendak's startling recent diss of Salman Rushdie, in response to a bad notice that the youthful Rushdie gave him. Rushdie's response to Sendak's attack was as revealing as it was characteristically magnanimous: "I love you too, Maurice. (Actually I do. Grumpy old bastard.)"
