And in circles devoted to literary criticism, among the professors of literature, the editors and authors of fiction, there was sometimes a kind of horrible exclusivity surrounding discussions of reading. There was good reading, and there was bad reading. There was the worthy, and the trivial. This was always couched in terms of taste, but it tasted, smelled unmistakably like snobbery.

参考译文：而在文学评论界，文学教授、小说编辑、小说家在讨论阅读时，有时会带有一种令人望而生畏的排外性。他们会评论说哪些是好书，哪些是坏书，哪些值得读，哪些毫无价值。他们总是在谈品位，但这听上去很势利。