GENERATION EX

Writing about Sarah Jessica Parker’s reading tastes (“The Sunshine Girl,” March 3), Bronwen Hruska refers to George Gissing as “a contemporary of Dickens.” Hruska should have done some checking before making that statement, since the age difference between Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and Gissing (1857-1903) is greater than that between some grandparents and grandchildren.

Describing these two men as contemporaries makes about as much sense as calling Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway members of the same generation.

CHRISTOPHER HAWTHORNE

Phoenix