Reflecting on A.O. Scott’s savage review of The Da Vinci Code in the New York Times, my co-author Chris Bailey said: “One of the most amusing things about Dan Brown’s book is how it provokes real writers (like me) into withering sarcasm, doubtless rooted in our envy of someone who can make a billion dollars from a book without going through the pointless toil of learning to write. I’d say that enough sarcasm has been spent on The Da Vinci Code to wither what’s left of the Amazon rain forest.”