Instead of warring with Bettelheim — or the bluenoses who have savaged ‘In the Night Kitchen’ — Sendak should curb the grouching and concede that he owes them a minor debt. There is no cheaper way to market your book than to have it banned or pilloried by the right people.
Slate Columnist Jack Shafer • Discussing “Where the Wild Things Are” author Maurice Sendak’s propencity to brink up critics who have slighted the book in the past. Specifically, Sendak has an ax to grind with child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, who said this about the book: “What’s wrong with the book is that the author was obviously captivated by an adult psychological understanding of how to deal with destructive fantasies in the child.” Shafer says that while he might have a stronger claim for the often-banned “In the Night Kitchen,” he thinks he needs to get off his high horse. • source