Thursday, July 19, 2007

She's why newspapers are cutting back on book reviews.

One woman; 7 years; 12,000 book reviews.

2 comments:

  1. Hi John,

    It makes me think of buying books with the same mindset of going through a drive-thru for food. You must look quickly at the menu or already know what you want, and then order what may not be good for you. So who cares if the reviewer Klausner's sentences make sense? I love this nonsense by her:

    Sample sentence from the review: “”He begins to investigate the drug cartel preying on the local students over the objection of his travel writer wife of over three decades Lolita, but soon finds himself wondering if the red pen is mightier than the sword, make those guns.”

    I generally don't go online to buy books, but go to the bookstore and browse. Wouldn't it be great if while at the bookstore, not only could we browse, but go to some database or folder file and find a real book review done by a real book reviewer on a considered book? This would up the demand for real reviews, and show the Klausner reviews for what they are.

    The problem is, though, there would be negative reviews, which would impact sales, and make a statement about the store manager's selection. I wonder if some collective effort could be formed on the web? Something book buyers could easily click into and subscribe to for e-mail notices.

    Powell's does well to brings reviews to specifically their surfers: Review-a-Day. Not only do they bring reviews from periodicals, but each week have one of their own.

    Yours,
    Rus

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  2. Perhaps the ultimate fate of book publishing rests in Harriet's hands wherein she reads all, reviews all, and eventually, writes them all.

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