I think it’s neat when you get to know a certain writer’s style so well that you can recognize that writer’s work without even looking at the byline.
It just happened to me. I just knew this piece about blackberry cobbler (can’t link to it directly; it’s piece #2) was written by Sam Sifton, and when I got to the bottom I realized I was right.
I know it’s not nice to say things like this, but: I can’t stand Sam Sifton’s writing. His prose is so fucking purple.
Apparently I’m not the first person to feel this way. And I found a Facebook group devoted to hating his writing.
I don’t read his restaurant reviews, but I do see his food column in the New York Times Magazine every few weeks. He’s been writing there for several months, and I’ve come to recognize a couple of his tics.
One, he uses the word “with” in an annoying precious way, usually (but not always) in the form [adjective] with [noun]:
- a honeyed glaze made piquant with vinegar
- a cool minted yogurt sauce that flashes with citrus and fire
- fat brioche croutons glistening with butter and woodsy with thyme
- oxtail stew, brown and steaming, light with ginger and thyme, pungent with allspice and soy
- Thick with onions and scallions and garlic
- romaine, coated thick with emulsified oil that is bright with garlic and acidity, nutty with cheese and has some kind of salt-fish pong in it to bind the whole
He also likes the phrase “tastes of”:
- It tastes of the best parts of summer in Manhattan
- It will taste of summer itself
- poultry that looked like pork and tasted of fish
Nothing wrong with saying you don’t enjoy someone’s writing style! I don’t read Sam Sifton regularly but it could be he’s not aware of those things you mention. He may not even realize he’s doing them on a regular basis. But certainly if he has an editor he works with regularly, he or she could point that out. It’s hard sometimes to see your writing as other people see it, you know? I mean, you’re so close to it.