Part of the problem nowadays is that people don’t mix it up with anybody. The idea is to play it cool and let people go negative, as they say in politics, and just let it peter out because in ten minutes something else will come along. I would love it if someone attacked me substantially—not hurling the Sprezzatura stuff.

I love the Internet, I’m on it all the time. I couldn’t have written the book so quickly without it. But I think that its claims for greater social connectivity are a sham. I don’t think it’s making people more connected than they were before, not at all.

There are some great things about the internet. We're in touch with each other like never before. We have access to resources that we never had before. But the internet hasn't evolved far enough to be self-critical. When you're online, anything goes . . .