Philip Kennicott

Biography

Philip Kennicott is the Pulitzer Prize–winning culture critic of The Washington Post and author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning (Norton, 2020). Kennicott’s essay “Smuggler,” which appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of VQR, was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. 

See Work

MEMOIR / Fall 2014

Smuggler

By Philip Kennicott

The discovery of that kiss changed me. Reading, which had seemed a retreat from the world, was suddenly more vital, dangerous, and necessary.