Penelope Gilliatt’s Stories

To the Editors:

Partway through a catalog of John Osborne’s attitude toward women, and the roots of that attitude [“Howling from the Sidelines,” NYR, May 10], Fintan O’Toole refers to Penelope Gilliatt as a “film critic.” This gratuitous slight should have been avoided. Gilliatt wrote illuminating fiction—most notably a series of short stories that deeply affected readers as well as writers with their insight, precision, and elegance.

Frank Solomon

Cambridge, Massachusetts