Don’t think of it as an affirmative action move or a consolation prize, but rather as proof that you could make an equally strong list of the past few decades’ greatest literary achievements without including a single American- or British-born white guy

Um. Except, you kind of didn't?

That's like congratulating yourself because your wife reminded you to make reservations at a restaurant for your anniversary. Not so much.

Instead of this hastily assembled rainbow colored list of authors, I would much rather have seen an examination by them of why their original list was so full of white dudes.