"ALWAYS STEAL FROM THE BEST." After a screening of Joseph H. Lewis's great B noir The Big Combo (1955), an audience member asked Lewis about similarities between one section of the movie and Casablanca (1939). Lewis's reply: "Always steal from the best!"

I don't remember if he even bothered to attribute the quip to anyone else.

I recently learned of another possible instance of stealing from the best: The Curious Case of Ben Schott and Anne Fadiman. The allegation: Schott lifted parts of Fadiman's charming Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader for a New York Times Book Review essay. As far as I know, Schott has denied any wrongdoing.

However, Schott could still resort to the "I only steal from the best" alibi, because Fadiman (right, at a 2005 book signing at the New York Public Library) is, simply put, a wonderful writer. Ex Libris, a set of autobiographical and bibiliophiliac essays, is a perfect book for book lovers. And The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is an exemplary work of narrative nonfiction, relating an immigrant family's experience with the United States health system. It's a perfect book group book.

Coming soon from Fadiman (in May or June 2007): At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays. I think this collection will include an excellent, previously published, piece on ice cream.

PS: If the Lewis anecdote sounds familiar, it might be because I've stolen it from myself.

PPS: You can get The Big Combo, Ex Libris, and The Spirit Catches You... at bargain prices.

Photo: David Marc Fischer