By Everything, He Means Everything

August 25th, 2004 · No Comments
by Booksquare

David Thayer over at Collected Miscellany leads into a post about reviewing with a statement that made us laugh (in a yeah-we’re-looking-into-a-mirror sort of way):

People like me are intensely interested in every hiccup and crosswind the publishing world produces. We read everything.

He then (and, Gena, you might want to read his entire post twice) explains that a review is an opinion.

Are you okay? Put your head between your knees. Deep, slow breaths. Take your time, we can wait. It’s not like we have a meeting tomorrow or anything.

Oh right, we do. When one upsets the meeting gods, it’s not a short process to get back in their good graces. Reviews are one person’s opinions. And it’s cool that reviewers like Thayer are looking beyond the bestseller lists (or wanna-be bestseller lists) to expose authors who deserve recognition. It’s not easy to climb out of the mid-list, or even the, well, what’s below the mid-list? And would you want to admit that’s where you dwell? As our favorite authors slide into overly familiar territory (but, no, we’re not quitting on Martha Grimes just yet), it’s always cool to discover our next obsession.

Yes, we mean that in a healthy, safe sort of way

File Under: Square Pegs