'Most Feared Woman in Publishing' Steps Down

A heavyweight in publishing whose words could turn a book into a bestseller or a bomb is stepping down. Chief New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani has taken a voluntary buyout and will step down from her post—a move that "will instantly change the shape of the publishing world," reports Vanity Fair

After joining the Times in 1979 as a reporter, Kakutani became a book critic in 1983 and helped make the careers of authors including David Foster Wallace, whom in 1996 she called "one of the big talents of his generation," per the Times. Getting a good review from Kakutani "was like having the good fairy touch you on the shoulder with her wand," author Mary Karr tells NPR. But her words could as easily tear authors down.

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