Sante is the perfect ambassador for NYRB empty smarminess -- middlebrow, petit bourgeois, finger-in-the-wind criticism that, in comparison, makes even Michiko Kakutani seem insightful. he is just an Adam Gopnik with a real -- as opposed to only wished-for -- European background. his career is a clear example of that peculiar American phenomenon, the usually senseless inferiority complex towards Eur