Banning bad reviews undermines the very purpose of reviews

In an interview with Poynter back at the beginning of November, BuzzFeed book editor Isaac Fitzgerald said that the site will not include negative reviews. "Why waste breath talking smack about something? You see it in so many old media-type places, the scathing takedown rip. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all". Is this the right attitude to adopt? I won't even pretend that this is a rhetorical question. It is absolutely the wrong attitude, and any publication that adopts it does both itself and its readers a disservice. Of course, Fitzgerald was talking specifically about… [Continue Reading] Continue reading at 'Betanews'

[ Betanews | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Banning bad reviews undermines the very purpose of reviews'


Amazon Will Review Kindle Newspaper Submission After All

Days after it told one publisher it had indefinitely suspended the programme to approve its Kindle newspaper edition submission, Amazon has suddenly relented. Last week, Scotland’s Herald & Times Group grumbled publicly that, after tw ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Book review: 'The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens'

The author's exuberant use of words in private is as vivid as in public.The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #charles dickens


Book review: 'Suddenly, a Knock On the Door' by Etgar Keret

The author goes from one extreme to another in this wonderfully absurdist short-story collection.Suddenly, a Knock On the Door Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review


Book reviews: 'Free Will,' 'Religion for Atheists'

The necessity of self-improvement and social betterment is thoughtfully explored in Sam Harris' and Alain de Botton's books.Free Will Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book reviews #sam harris


Book review: 'No Time Like the Present' by Nadine Gordimer

An interracial couple navigates modern life in South African in 'No Time Like the Present,' by Nadine Gordimer.No Time Like the Present Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #nadine gordimer #south african


Bad new for independent bookstores: Is Google becoming "another Amazon"?

Google will end its Google eBooks reseller program which allowed independent bookstores to sell ebooks through Google's platform. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookstores #sell ebooks


Book review: 'Sailor' by Tom Epperson

A mob wife fleeing her past — and a dirty U.S. marshal — gets a little help from a mysterious stranger in Epperson's modern noir tale of revenge and greed.If I were a damsel in distress fleeing a past and people who wanted me dead, like Gina Cicala in the modern noir thriller "Sailor" by Tom... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review


Book review: 'The Beginner's Goodbye' by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler's latest novel, 'The Beginner's Goodbye,' is a classic mix of the author's themes, most especially oddball characters and the turbulent nature of families and marriages.When you pick up a novel by Anne Tyler, you can expect certain things. It will be set in Baltimore. It will follow... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anne tyler #tangible sense


'Los Angeles Review of Books' To Launch New, Enhanced Web Site

To coincide with its one-year anniversary on April 18, the Los Angeles Review of Books is re-launching its website in a multimedia platform that will include video, drop-down menus, and new feature articles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #one-year anniversary #multimedia platform #include video #feature articles


Book review: 'Threats' by Amelia Gray

In this spooky, atmospheric debut novel, readers enter a sterile, off-kilter world of horror — sort of — that is more David Lynch than Stephen King.Threats Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #amelia gray #atmospheric debut #david lynch #stephen king


Book review: 'Damn Yankees' and the passions they stir

'Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team' makes it personal.A couple of years ago, for Father's Day, my family bought me the interactive video game MLB 2K9 for the Wii. The great thing about the game, and also its enduring frustration, is its verisimilitude —... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #great thing #york yankees


Book review: 'Lives of the Novelists' by John Sutherland

These delightful biographies of 294 authors begin with John Bunyan in the 17th century and ends with Rana Dasgupta, born in 1971.My assignment: Read almost 300 literary biographies in more than 800 pages, all of English-language authors, beginning in the 17th century and ending in the present... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reference book #17th century #rana dasgupta #present day


Book review: 'An Improbable Life' by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown

A coming-of-age story by former Angels pitcher Abbott is at its best when describing his influence as a role model off the field.Imperfect Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #coming-of-age story #role model


Book review: 'The New Republic' by Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver deftly handles terrorism, politics and satire in 'The New Republic.'It takes guts to write a satire about terrorism — and Lionel Shriver has guts. She has already published biting novels about the failings of the U.S. healthcare system ("So Much for That") and a school shooter... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #lionel shriver #healthcare system


Book review: 'The Idea Factory' by Jon Gertner

A look at AT&T's Bell Labs documents what in its heyday was truly a marvelous innovation machine and focuses on a handful of compelling narratives.For generations of industry research executives, AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories served as an inspiration: a warren of youthful scientists... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nobel prizes #personal computer


Book review: 'The Stranger Within Sarah Stein'

Thane Rosenbaum skillfully mixes fantasy and tragedy in 'The Stranger Within Sarah Stein,' whose heroine weathers her parents' divorce with pluck and defiance.Young adult novelists are increasingly tackling darker subjects: kidnappings, drugs, rape. But few have delved into so many dark subjects... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review


Book review: 'These Dreams of You' by Steve Erickson

In 'These Dreams of You,' Steve Erickson writes incisively and movingly about issues of family and race, but the novel goes off the rails with tangents.Zan Nordhoc's unhappy family is certainly unhappy in its own ways in Steve Erickson's new novel "These Dreams of You." For instance, in a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #david bowie #iggy pop


Book review: 'The Escape Artists' by Noam Scheiber and 'Confidence Men' by Ron Suskind

In 'The Escape Artists' by Noam Scheiber and 'Confidence Men' by Ron Suskind, President Obama's economic recovery plan and his advisors are in the spotlight, but the books' analyses are off the mark in places.On Oct. 28 and 29, 1929, when the great crash devastated the stock market, Herbert... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #stock market #hard times


Stranger Than Fiction: Oprah Was Bad for Book Sales

By encouraging readers to tackle longer, more sophisticated novels, the queen of daytime TV may have hurt overall fiction sales. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2012-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction sales #book sales #encouraging readers #daytime tv


Book review: 'House of Stone' by Anthony Shadid

Late New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid writes about insights gained rebuilding the war-ravaged home of his great grandfather in Lebanon in 'House of Stone.'A yearning for home, wherever that may be, is one of many themes that the late New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid so deftly... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #anthony shadid