reviewing

Which is probably one of the reasons those of us who love contemporary fiction love it as we do. We__e alone with it. It arrives without references, without credentials we can trust. Givers of prizes (not to mention critics) do the best they can, but they may__hey probably will__e scoffed at by their children__ children. We, the living readers, whether or not we__e members of juries, decide, all on our own, if we suspect ourselves to be in the presence of greatness. We__e compelled to let future generations make the more final decisions, which will, in all likelihood, seem to them so clear as to produce a sense of bafflement over what was valued by their ancestors; what was garlanded and paraded, what carried to the temple on the shoulders of the wise.

Most people feel best about their work the week before their vacation, but it's not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. I just suggest that you do this weekly instead of yearly.

Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.

Actually, writers have no business writing about their own works. They either wax conceited, saying things like: 'My brilliance is possibly most apparent in my dazzling short story, "The Cookiepants Hypotenuse."' Or else they get unbearably cutesy: 'My cat Ootsywootums has given me all my best ideas, hasn't oo, squeezums?

Only a few short years ago, the average stay-at-home mom spent her relaxation time reading Jackie Collins and staring at the pool boy. Now, half of them are outselling Jackie Collins writing porn about the pool boy.The other half are writing reviews of

But 'I worked hard on this' doesn__ exempt you from criticism. Those harsh reviews aren__ about anyone being out to get me. It__ not an Authors vs. Reviewers thing. It__ people taking the time to express their opinions because they care about this s

1. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the things they read (or watch, or listen to, or taste, or whatever). They__e also entitled to express them online.2. Sometimes those opinions will be ones you don__ like.3. Sometimes those opinions won__ be very nice.4. The people expressing those may be (but are not always) ass

Reviewing a book written by someone you're living with and sleeping with is, needless to say, wrong.

You can kill a book quicker by your silence than by a bad review.