Janet Maslin | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1949-08-12)August 12, 1949 (age 76) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | University of Rochester (BA) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Employer | The New York Times |
| Known for | Film and literary criticism |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as afilm critic forThe New York Times from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then aliterary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, Maslin helped found theJacob Burns Film Center inPleasantville, New York. She is president of its board of directors.[1][2]
Maslin graduated from theUniversity of Rochester in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.[3]
Maslin began her career as a rock music critic forThe Boston Phoenix and became a film editor and critic for that publication. She also worked as a freelancer forRolling Stone and worked atNewsweek.[4]
Maslin became a film critic forThe New York Times in 1977. From December 1, 1994, she replacedVincent Canby as the chief film critic.[4] Maslin continued to review films forThe Times until 1999, when she briefly left the newspaper.[2] Her film criticism career, including her embrace of Americanindependent cinema, is discussed in the documentaryFor the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009). In the documentary,Entertainment Weekly criticLisa Schwarzbaum recalls the excitement of having a woman as the lead reviewer atThe New York Times. In a 2005 interview with Aaron Aradillas at Rockcritics.com, Maslin explained she quit reviewing films because she experienced burnout, expressing gratitude it ended when it did.[3] FilmmakerHarmony Korine, whose directorial debut featureGummo (1997) Maslin famously called "worst film of the year",[5][6][7] noted how Maslin stopped working as a movie critic not long after.[8][9]
From 1994 to 2003, Maslin was a frequent guest onCharlie Rose with 61 appearances on the program.[10]
From 2000 she worked as a book reviewer forThe New York Times; from 2015 as a contributor as opposed to being their full-time critic.[2] As of 2023[update], Maslin continues to review books for the newspaper, albeit sparsely. In her review forDennis Lehane's novelSmall Mercies, she speculated it might be the author's last concluding with "As epitaphs go, you could do a lot worse."[11] Among her reviews are many enthusiastic discoveries of then-unknown crime writers, the first American assessment of anElena Ferrante novel, and a 2011 essay on the widowedJoyce Carol Oates's memoir,A Widow's Story, which offended some of Oates's admirers.[12][13]
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief film critic ofThe New York Times 1994–1999 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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