Beyond My Books

Too few newspapers and magazines employ regular book columnists and reviewers. This is done in the spirit of egalitarianism, but in the digital age, where anonymous, poorly written “customer reviews” sway readers, we need to establish relationships with our literary critics. We need to trust them as “experts” hired and trained by the publications that employ them or self-educated and trained as book bloggers or “amateur” reviewers with websites of their own. In either case, we can get to know the reviewer’s tastes and tics and make a more informed decision about the book under review. In the present, mosh-pit of book reviewing, it’s nearly impossible to know where the freelance literary critic you’re reading is coming from. Including, perhaps, this one.

Sarah Fay, The Atlantic

This quote gets at why, for me, blogs are often (not always!) of more value than newspaper and magazine reviews. It’s not that they’re better or less bland or more personal; it’s that I’ve taken the time to choose blogs that review in a style that I enjoy or whose tastes and sensibilities are similar to my own. Some of this is my own fault because I don’t take the time to read magazines or newspapers regularly, but when the quality and style of reviews within a single publication vary widely from month to month because they don’t employ many regular critics, it’s harder to built that history. (I’m much more inclined to read a Michael Dirda or Ron Charles review in the Washington Post than a review by someone I haven’t encountered before.)