Awards and Honors
- 1970-71 – Fulbright Fellowship to France
- 1990-93 – Board Member, National Book Critic's Circle
- 1993 – Pulitzer Prize, Distinguished Criticism
- 1993 – One of Washingtonian Magazine’s “25 Smartest People in Washington”
- 1996 – Washington Post/Duke University Fellow
- 1997 – Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Washington College
- 1999 – Master Artist of Literary Journalism, The Atlantic Center for the Arts
- 1999-present – National Council Member, The Atlantic Center for the Arts
- 2001 – Chair of Biography Jury for the Pulitzer Prize