Joseph Epstein’s Brief for the Novel

Most readers of COMMENTARY, for which Joseph Epstein has been writing for 60 years, know that he is one of the great essayists in the history of English literature. His essays derive much of their charm from his mastery of two other short forms, the anecdote and the aphorism, which make his prose sparkle. I used to tell myself that I would give two fingers to write as well as he does. Epstein has also written some splendid short stories, several of which have also appeared here.