Art Dudley

Nothing is wonderful when you get used to it.—E.L. Howe

"Good career move."—Michael O'Donoghue on the death of Elvis Presley

I'm beginning to understand why some people enjoy writing about crazy tweaks like electron counseling and magic listening trousers: When an idea is that new, it brings with it the chance for some gifted but heretofore unappreciated journalist to rise through the ranks and describe it to an anxious world. By contrast, when a defeated and baggy old establishment writer sets out to describe a CD player or amplifier, the product is surely the millionth such thing to come down the pike, and before long the readers complain: We used to like you, but you don't try very hard to excite us anymore.

"It's rather warm in here."
—violinist Mischa Elman, at Jascha Heifetz's Carnegie Hall debut