Book Reviewing
edited by Sylvia E. Kamerman
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The Writer, Inc. (Boston): 1978. Hardcover: xxviii, 215 pages. ISBN-10: 0-87116-113-3 ISBN-13: 978-0871161130 Suggested retail price: $10.00 (US) Tags: books; essays; reviews; Writing Tactical strength: [5/10] |
Writing-advice books get tedious after having read three or four books; the advice in Book Reviewing gets tedious after reading three or four of the twenty-one essays. Any single review provides good advice for the prospective book reviewer, but once you have read all the common-sense advice, the only real help comes from the essays that include an actual review. For example, many essays emphasize that to remain impartial you should never review a book by either a friend or an enemy. Like much of the advice, this bit provides a little foot for thought the first time you read it, but becomes tedius after the second, third, fourth, and fifth time.
Kamerman set out to provide advice to aspiring writers who want to publish book reviews. Book Reviewing succeeds in this attempt, but the advice feels stale once you have plodded through. I found myself wishing for advice directed at established writers.
Book Reviewing contains an appendix with a short bibliography of recommended resources and extensive lists of award-winning books in about every genre. The award lists seem useful until you reflect on the oft-repeated advice that you keep abrest of the publishing market and review the latest books. Perhaps Kamerman included this to provide novices with recommended reading to acquire depth before attempting to write reviews.
