The Joy of Text: James Wood’s Inspired Reading (bookforum.com)

Worth noting this is not James Woods, the known actor and hater. This is James Wood, the author and literary critic.

James Woods is among my least favorite writers. His previous book "How Fiction Works" was condescending and pretentious. This essay collection is no different.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Kirn-t.html

Reading this as the work of actor James Woods is funny, but reading it as a literal sentient, personified, block of wood is even better: "What are we to think, then, about a critic criticizing a critic? Do I intend to get you to see Sebald or Roth as I see Wood seeing them? But of course, to see Wood as I see him is, in part, to see how Wood sees."

If he gets really excited about something, it's usually worth checking out. That makes him a useful critic.