AT40 Update:

Apparently there was, indeed, a backlash to Curtis Sittenfeld's review of Melissa Bank. The critics ask: Why does a book about woman have to be pigeonholed as chick lit? It's a fair complaint, but I still think it's a positive review. Anyway, Ron Hogan at Beatrice.com links to the blogs (including mine) that have commented on this. Particularly interesting is this one, saying that Sittenfeld might be irked about her own book having been pigeonholed. She also quotes someone as noting that writing is the only industry where people are constantly penning takedowns of their peers.