Happy Birthday, Michiko! (or “Let Them Eat Cake”)

According to Writer’s Almanac, today is the birthday of New York Times book critic, Michiko Kakutani who won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1998. According to the Almanac, Kukutani “doesn’t go to literary functions, she doesn’t let people take her picture, and she won’t give interviews.”

In that case, what I want to know is this: with all that going on, how did Almanac manage to find out that today is her birthday? (Other than asking Wikipedia, I mean.)

Kukutani shares her birthday with Judith Krantz (bet she’s lovin’ that, Karel Capek and Simone de Beauvoir.

Today’s Almanac is here.

At the end of November, The Times ran Kakutani’s “10 Favorite Books of 2008.” That piece is here.

And if you’re poking around looking for January Magazine’s top books of the year, that list is here.