Great first paragraph

There's an article in the NY Times today, called Appetites ofa Poetry Virtuoso: "Collected Poems" by Jack Gilbert. I adore the first paragraph:

Several people in my life revere Jack Gilbert. They push photocopies of his poems solemnly across tables at me, as if they were salary offers or handguns or unusual drugs. Here, they say. Read this.

Isn't that great? Dwight Garner can write.