SOURCE: “Motormouth Silliness,” in New Statesman & Society, December 8, 1995, pp. 27-8.

In the following review, Cunningham presents a strongly negative assessment of Fish's assertions in Professional Correctness.

If decibel levels settled arguments, Stanley Fish would be the cock of the critical walk. The American theorist has had little fresh to say about the nature of criticism for a long time. He continues to attract attention, though, by booming out the old stories with ever greater stridency. Should you presume to venture a demurral, you’ll be met by a mere repetition in a louder voice. Professor Fish doubtless thinks, in the words of the poet, he’s meeting you “upon this honestly”. He’s not even meeting you.

“Yet once more” is the going trope of these tarted-up versions of the 1993 Oxford Clarendon lectures. Yet once more: they’re the opening words of Milton’s Lycidas. A renowned Miltonist...