Lights Out Review
Linda Richards wrote to say that my review of Jason Starr’s LIGHTS OUT is posted at January Magazine. This is my second review for January and the link is on the right. I would’ve liked to have attended the session on book reviewing last night in Manhattan at the Housing Works Used Books Cafe. Frank Wilson, Maud Newton, Lizzie Skurnick, John Freeman of the National Book Critics Circle and Laurie Muchnick of Newsday formed the panel in which the role of bloggers as book reviews was examined. Bud Parr and James Marcus were in the audience so perhaps they will blog and enlighten.
What’s it like to review a book for January Magazine? With two in the can I’m working on a third novel, Thomas Lakeman’s THE SHADOW CATCHERS. It’s getting a little easier although your reporter finds these essay length reviews challenging. Part of the problem is my brain, like that of the mouse, can only absorb so much information at a time. I have to go into literary seclusion to spew forth a horrible first draft, rework it, and then email it to a living breathing editor. When that person responds my vision clouds with the struggle to understand what I said, he said, we said, and who wrote this thing in the first place? Unlike a terrible karaoke experience the review appears in print for other people to read. But the people at January make it better. Thank God.
October 7th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Dear Writer,
it seems to me you lost the thread of your thought, or has there been any thread, such as “the review”? If so, you haven’t enightened your reader about the content of the review(s).
If indeed the review, was it the review of the book, the review of blogs, the review of the writing process or those making the reviews? Or was it about something else? And if so, I wonder what it was.
Apart from the lack of clarity to — what — is being reviewed, the rest is quite clear: others ware there, you were missing and you regret — it seems you do. And you hope you’ll hear later.
As a matter of curiosity, is there any connection to those two books, if two, apart from you making reviews and getting terribly frustrated: And I wonder — what is it that you are getting frustrated about — the book, the author, the review, or what?
Thank you for sharing.
Now you have your response, do you?
The Responder
Lights Out Review
Thursday, September 28th, 2006
Linda Richards wrote to say that my review of Jason Starr’s LIGHTS OUT is posted at January Magazine. This is my second review for January and the link is on the right. I would’ve liked to have attended the session on book reviewing last night in Manhattan at the Housing Works Used Books Cafe. Frank Wilson, Maud Newton, Lizzie Skurnick, John Freeman of the National Book Critics Circle and Laurie Muchnick of Newsday formed the panel in which the role of bloggers as book reviews was examined. Bud Parr and James Marcus were in the audience so perhaps they will blog and enlighten.
What’s it like to review a book for January Magazine? With two in the can I’m working on a third novel, Thomas Lakeman’s THE SHADOW CATCHERS. It’s getting a little easier although your reporter finds these essay length reviews challenging. Part of the problem is my brain, like that of the mouse, can only absorb so much information at a time. I have to go into literary seclusion to spew forth a horrible first draft, rework it, and then email it to a living breathing editor. When that person responds my vision clouds with the struggle to understand what I said, he said, we said, and who wrote this thing in the first place? Unlike a terrible karaoke experience the review appears in print for other people to read. But the people at January make it better. Thank God.