Pet peeve: Don't print reviews on the back of novels!

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amother

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 10:43 am

Whenever I see a review printed on the back of a novel it sends up red flags for me. I'm pretty much always disappointed.

I mean, if I send a copy of my magnum opus to Libby Lazewnik or Manis Friedman they are both going to be mentchen and say something nice, not "this is poorly written drivel with a convoluted plot line and no character development, maybe just print a copy for your einiklach."

A novel should sell itself by a description of the content. If you must get reviews for marketing purposes they still don't belong on the back cover!

(This does not always apply to nonfiction.)

zaq

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 11:39 am

A synopsis of the content can usually be found on the jacket flaps, and the table of contents is also a clue. Plus you can leaf through the pages and get an idea of what the book's about and whether the style of writing is something you can accept. You want a second or third opinion about a book, go to the NY Times book reviews, to the Jewish Review of Books or to the Jewish Book Council or Jewish Press or OU Jewish Action magazine. Also look at the Library of Congress guide to reviews: https://guides.loc.gov/finding.....ases.

I disagree that a book should sell itself by description of the content. A book can have a great story yet be so poorly written that you would toss it aside in disgust before you completed the first chapter.

amother

Forsythia

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 2:07 pm

I don't think that Libby Lazewnik or Manis Friedman are reading every book they're asked to blurb and then putting their seal of approval on it regardless of content. Their credibility is on the line, too.

Blurbs are authors saying 'if you like my work, you might like this.' I've definitely picked up books outside of the frum world based on blurbs. They're rarely as good as the books by the blurbed author, but that's just how it goes.

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