We all owe Lee Siegel a moment of grateful silence. His blog may be gone, his reputation wrecked -- but "blogofascism" is a term that will endure, bringing great joy and happiness to generations who'll never know the first thing about its originator. Three cheers for you, Lee Siegel. Your site is dead, but your neologism lives on.
In place of Siegel's blog is a letter of apology from TNR's editor, Frank Foer, explaining that an internal investigation revealed Siegel as the force behind a commentor named "Sprezzatura," who'd been entering the threads to expansively defend Siegel's genius. It was a deception, the author donning a mask to gin up support for his own work, and it resulted in the blog's dismantlement and Siegel's suspension.
I had planned to let this go unmarked, unmentioned. I'm too invested. Of all the online interlocutors I've tangled with, Siegel was the only one I'd ever judged beyond the bounds of decency. But "safely" hidden behind the moniker Sprezzatura, Siegel took another shot at me, wrapping it in a flight of egotism so spectacular as to merit widespread quoting. So now, floating around various blogs, is this charming number from "Sprezzatura":
