McCarthy's review reads to me like an authorial plant, (I suspect these things were quite common, and maybe still are) especially the line I've underlined which seems to speculate, in an assured way, on aspects of Botkin(Kinbote)'s relationship with Shade which I find underivable from the book as I remember it. Moreover the last paragraph quoted supplies the context, somewhat undercutting the full validity of the Botkin/Kinbote equation, that I find lacking in VN's draft note for interviews.

All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.