Former essayist for The New York Times and an essayist and editor at large for New York magazine.
In 1971, he graduated from Harvard with an American history and literature degree.
He was called Butcher of Broadway for his theatre reviews at the New York Times.
His second wife is Alexandra Witchel and he had two sons with his former wife, Gail Winston.
He appeared on Oprah Winfrey's talk show in 2006 to discuss the James Frey memoir scandal.