The Spectacle of Skill

"Delightful if bittersweet recollections." --Vanity Fair

"A generous reminder to all those familiar with Hughes's prose of just how dazzlingly he succeeded at that goal, and it will introduce newcomers to one of the great critical voices of the late 20th century." --The Christian Science Monitor

"Echo[es] with an erudite authority that would seem impossible to obtain in our day, and a bombast that would be unbearably rude. The combination, conveyed in a clear and entertaining prose, will feel nostalgic even to those who come to know [Hughes] only by this book." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A must-have item for anyone who wishes emphatically to know what is what in the here and now." --The Wall Street Journal

"The staggering erudition of Time art critic Hughes is on full and glorious display in this impressive collection." --Publishers Weekly (starred)

Praise for Robert Hughes:

"Hughes is the sort of ebullient writer who floods his reader with great bursting accumulations of words and gets carried away with the sheer exuberance of his narrative. It is compelling. You don't want to miss a sentence." --The Christian Science Monitor

"Hughes has defined himself as one of the great critics and cultural commentators of the postwar period. His brilliance lies not just in his erudition ... but also in his rugged, keen style and eye for historical and thematic detail that can lead him to gorgeous sweeps of overarching observation." --Michael Bracewell, Los Angeles Times