David Den­by is the New York Times best­selling author of Great Books. His oth­er books include Amer­i­can Suck­er and Lit Up. He was a film crit­ic for New York mag­a­zine and The New York­er, where he is now a staff writer. His essays have appeared in The New Repub­lic and The Atlantic. He lives in New York City with his wife, nov­el­ist Susan Rieger.