51�Թ�

The response was curt: “Both in this age and in all others.”

Should the guard read her as curt, or worse, a “b***h,” things could become dangerous.

In Hollywood’s ongoing cheerless attempts to contest the joy of music by cutting stellar classical musicians down to size, “Maria” joins the curt parade of “Tár” and “Maestro.”

“I was a layer cake of abandonment and hurt and fury, iced with a smile,” goes a typically curt, sardonic line in Manguso’s second novel, which chronicles the slow-motion collapse of a marriage.

Asked if he was considering any fundamental changes to his approach - which he clearly will not implement - Guardiola's initial reaction was curt.