Odd but appreciated

Timothy L. O'Brien writes well about Martin Cruz Smith's six Arkady Renko novels in the Sunday New York Times. (See my "currently recommended books" on the right).

Still, it's an odd article, an essay really, in that it's not a solitary review. It's not a review masquerading as an interview/profile (he didn't speak to Smith, apparently) -- and it doesn't appear in the Book Review nor on Saturday, which has traditionally been the dumping ground for book-related features.

So why is it in the Sunday Arts & Leisure section -- on the same page as "Theater"?