Tayari's Blog: The Writer Reviews
Posted by TayariJones on February 12, 2005 08:35 PM
Filed under
Writing
When the editor of the Book section of The Washington Post asks you to do a review, you say "yes." When he asks you just weeks before your own novel is published, you say "hell yes."
So this is how I ended up reviewing God's Gym by John Edgar Wideman for the Washington Post Book World. I've reviewed books before, but this time, so close to my own pub date, I found myself almost paralyzed with angst, a wild case of do-unto-otherism that I couldn't quite shake.
Luckily, God's Gym is a good book and Mr. Wideman a brilliant writer. But even still, I found myself wondering who I was to judge this book? Now most of the time, the word "judge" is just a euphemism meaning "slam". But really, I wondered who was I to make my opinion, for better or for worse, a sort documented quasi-official take on anyone's work?
If you read the review and keep in mind that I am just one reader. A close reader and a careful reader, but I'm just me. I tried to write a review that would explore the book, and worked hard to keep the pronouncements to a minimum. (There's that one in the first paragraph, but that's it!) If you read the review, write back and let me know how I did.
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There are 1 comments on "The Writer Reviews". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Dan Wickett
Tayari,
I enjoyed your review and it furthers my thinking this is a book I eventually need to get around to.
Who are you to make your opinion??? Interesting question. Like you said, you're a careful reader. I think that's all you need - that and the ability to write in a clear and concise manner. Being able to explain why you liked or disliked the book in a way that doesn't give too much of the reading experience away.
At least you're a published author doing such. I hear there's a guy online doing reviews who got a BS in Statistics and has never even had a story published before :)
Enjoy,
March 5, 2005 05:01 PM