The Purpose of Book Reviews
Submitted by mwilliams on Tue, 2008-02-26 00:06.What makes a good book review? Obviously they should let you know if a book is worth spending money on, but should book reviews also entertain? Claire Armitstead thinks so, but some of her readers don’t. As a reader, or reviewer, where do you stand on the debate?
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I say it's whatever gets people coming back to the author of the review. If being entertaining brings readers, then that's the answer. If being erudite sucks in readers, then that's the answer. Or whatever it is that makes the reviewer happy. (I am happiest writing cantankerous reviews myself, and it gets one or two readers.)
The question is like posing the question "Should I write a schlocky thriller or a high-brow novel?" The answer is simultaneously "whichever one makes you happiest" and "whichever one you are good enough at to make me happiest."
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