Review Reviews

Do you guys know those ads that look like no one was trying, that show up at the bottom of websites when you search for free streaming football games?  The all-text ads in blue that reflect an uncomfortable amount of knowledge about your Google searches, so that I keep seeing things like "Looking for singles in Pembroke, MA??" on my sidebar?  Those things appear to be constructed with the same eye and attention to detail as the book review of the newspaper of Buffalo, NY (our fair city).  Which, I think, is too bad.

I've been looking at majorish American cities' book sections in an attempt to see if anything comes close to the Times Book Review, which has the pole position by a lot.  (I don't actually understand poles and the positions of cars relative to them, so I only assume that you can have the pole position by a lot).  I liked the San Francisco Chronicle's section but it has more announcements and reportage than reviews. I like the one at the LA Times-- like its northbound statemate, both have a clean and colorful page setup. The one done by the Globe is ok, too, but has too much non-book stuff crowding it up.  And then there's the one from Buffalo (our fair city), the place that accounts for the "majorish" instead of a major in the first sentence of this paragraph.

I will admit, that as a rabid partisan of the New York Times, and as a person who likes to quote Christ on the reception of important people in their own towns, that I figured that the Buffalo News's book section would be a good opportunity to exercise the muscles used for scoffing.  But, I am an idiot, as you know.  This reviews are quite good.  They are not as voluminous as the ones at the Times but, well, obviors.  They are quality assessments of the books under consideration, which I guess is exactly what you want from a review.  But.

But, this is not a place I would go to three or four times every day (as I do NYT's Book Section, Bookforum, Bookslut, themillions and a few other booknerd places), and part of the reason is the failure to show a confidence that their readers care about books.  This is something I have noticed not only in reading reviews at different places, but in talking to people who are usually casual readers.  The greatness of the NYT Book Review, and of similarly great writing about books, is that they know that you, the reader, want to read something, and that reading is an important part of what you do.  They know it.  They don't have to sell you on reading a book of some kind instead of watching television; they want to tell you how the book they are talking about will shape itself into your life as a literary person.

So, Buffalo News: you've got the chops, go for it!  Shine up your book review website, show a little confidence in yourselves and trust in your readers! They (I) are (am) out there!