Very much enjoyed this piece, Ann, and could not agree more about the importance of good, and trustworthy, reviews. A well-done review can steer me towards a book I would otherwise not have read, and an insightful take-down can help me decide whether a particular title is worth my time or not.
I admit that I was pretty taken aback by the anecdotes in your first p/graph, even though I probably shouldn't have been.
You know, considering your comment I began to think maybe I shouldn’t have been so taken aback either. How much did I know about book reviews when I was a college student? I actually took an informal college workshop in book reviewing with an editor whose name I can’t now put my finger on, and I remember being quite snooty at how pop-culture the writing seemed to me. But I was an English major who had been studying pretty much only the revered dead. I’d be interested to know, among all the contemporary creative-writing undergraduates, what kind of a outlook they have onto the world of writing by the living, beyond the authors they like and aspire to join.
Bravo!
Thank you!
A manifesto of kinds, Ann!
Can’t seem to help myself 😉
Very much enjoyed this piece, Ann, and could not agree more about the importance of good, and trustworthy, reviews. A well-done review can steer me towards a book I would otherwise not have read, and an insightful take-down can help me decide whether a particular title is worth my time or not.
I admit that I was pretty taken aback by the anecdotes in your first p/graph, even though I probably shouldn't have been.
You know, considering your comment I began to think maybe I shouldn’t have been so taken aback either. How much did I know about book reviews when I was a college student? I actually took an informal college workshop in book reviewing with an editor whose name I can’t now put my finger on, and I remember being quite snooty at how pop-culture the writing seemed to me. But I was an English major who had been studying pretty much only the revered dead. I’d be interested to know, among all the contemporary creative-writing undergraduates, what kind of a outlook they have onto the world of writing by the living, beyond the authors they like and aspire to join.
As an English professor, I wasn't taken aback at all. Just read the comments on a critically panned film on Rotten Tomatoes for insight.
Thank you for this excellent post.
Thank you for reading!
I love this statement: "I am interested in how to put the joy and majesty that is reading in front of more people. " Me too! Glad you're out there.
Thank you so much!