William Safire

"You needn't have pondered the difference between formalists and notionalists or stayed awake wondering why English speakers often substitute a periphrastic modal phrase for the simple subjunctive to appreciate Safire's latest collection of "On Language" columns from the New York Times. Watching My Language is as much …

William Safire uses the same sly wit and insider knowledge that make his New York Times journalism so lively in this jolly, mordant romp about a Soviet agent who has become a Bill Gates-like American billionaire using KGB money. When reporter Irving Fein gets a tip about this mole's plan to surface, it could either be …