The Art of the Book Review
Book reviews are an integral part of the writing experience. They are a source of information for prospective readers, a measure of an author’s success, and a flexible market indicator for an author’s future. There is, however, an art to writing an effective and constructive book review. I find that the core of the reviewers art is a nugget of truth called, keep it positive.
Keeping our critical works positive is not a new concept; Hollywood has been exhibiting this skill for years. If one listens to how everyone in Hollywood talks about everyone else in Hollywood, it’s always gushingly positive: Finest director I’ve ever worked with, most talented actor in recent film, a cinematographer of extraordinary skill. Sometimes, Hollywood insiders have to reach for a compliment review but they always find one: I learned a lot from his thirty years of film making experience. Well, you get the idea. Very rarely do we hear a Hollywood (or really entertainment) celebrity publically say some something negative about a colleague. On those rare occasions that a celebrity oversteps his bounds, I’ve noticed that the nay-sayer slowly, or rapidly, descends into obscurity. We just never hear from them again. We could all take a lesson from Hollywood-speak.
Now, don’t misunderstand my message. Hollywood celebrities do say critical things about each other, but they do it in a positive way. Hollywood celebrities aren’t being disingenuous. Most everything they say is true. Their praise may be the only positive, and also true, things that they can say, but they are true none the less. They just talk about each other in a diplomatic and complimentary way.
As an example, I subscribe to a local movie critic on a local TV news show in my area. Whether he likes a movie or not, whether he pans the movie or not, his reviews are positive. Recently, he reviewed the second ‘juvenile-bro-slapstick’ movie in a ‘juvenile-bro-slapstick’ series. This was not his movie genre. He said that if you like the first j-b-s movie, you would like the second j-b-s movie. He seemed to compliment the movie as artfully satisfying a certain segment of the movie going population. He also seemed to suggest that that select segment of the movie public had value. Then he added, if you are not a fan of j-b-s movie number one, this film may not be for you. He let the rest of us know not to waste our time. This movie was only for the cult following. Masterful. He panned the movie but he presented everything in a positive light. I prefer book reviews that follow this positive profile. I like a reviewer that tells me the aspects of the book that the reviewer liked.
Now, I must admit that I have read a few books that I just couldn't put a good reflection on. So, I just don't review them. I may, if the author wants, provide private feedback. But, I won't publicly trash another author. That's just me.