Not the Critic Who Counts

Dear New York Times Magazine book critic:

I just received an advance copy of a book by Navy wife Sarah Smiley, Dinner with the Smileys, to be released this week. The book is a touching and forthright account of the way Sarah and her three boys filled her husband's seat at the dinner table during his yearlong deployment. It's about the dinner guests, including teachers, authors, athletes and lawmakers who shared a meal and became the Smiley's friends.