Michiko Kakutani

Date of Birth: January 9, 1955

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Biography

Michiko Kakutani is a distinguished American literary critic known for her incisive and often influential reviews. Born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Kakutani is the daughter of Japanese-American mathematician Shizuo Kakutani and his wife Keiko. She attended Yale University, where she majored in English and graduated in 1976. Following her studies, Kakutani began her career in journalism, working for publications like The Washington Post and Time magazine before joining The New York Times in 1979. Kakutani quickly rose to prominence at The New York Times, where she became one of the most powerful and respected book critics of her time. Her reviews were known for their sharp, often scathing critiques as well as their deep literary insights. Over her career, she won numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Kakutani retired from The New York Times in 2017, leaving behind a legacy of critical rigor and intellectual honesty.

5 Interesting Facts about Michiko Kakutani

1. Michiko Kakutani is the only child of Shizuo Kakutani, a renowned mathematician known for the Kakutani fixed-point theorem.

2. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998.

3. Kakutani is known for her anonymous and private nature, rarely giving interviews or public appearances.

4. She has reviewed books by a wide range of authors, from contemporary writers like David Foster Wallace to literary giants such as Salman Rushdie and J.K. Rowling.

5. Kakutani retired from her position at The New York Times in 2017, after nearly four decades of influential book criticism.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Michiko Kakutani

1. “Good books make you ask questions. Bad books give you all the answers.”

2. “The best literature is always about the individual in opposition to the larger forces of society.”

3. “Books can be windows into other worlds and other minds, but they can also be mirrors reflecting our own experiences and emotions.”

4. “Literature is both escape and confrontation.”

5. “A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Although specific figures about Michiko Kakutani’s net worth are not publicly available, her long and successful career at The New York Times, coupled with her Pulitzer Prize win, suggests she has achieved significant financial stability.