Crime Fiction Dossier (Old)

Ask the Critic - Round Five

Devon Ellington, who's done the reviewing thing himself, asks two questions:

Have you ever been assigned a book to review written by someone you loathed, and what did you do about it?

What do you do if you read a book by someone you know and genuinely like as a person, but the book is just awful?

The first thing has never happened to me. I don't review that many books on assignment, and I don't loathe that many people, so the two have never come together. Obviously, I would turn down the assignment, though, if the situation ever came up. It's unethical to review a book by someone towards whom you have a strong personal animosity.

The second is tougher, as I have been there. I know a lot of writers and occasionally they write lousy books. That definitely puts me in an awkward position. I don't like to write negative reviews in the first place, and I would be reluctant to pan the book of someone whom I know or like.

Still, if you can't be at least reasonably objective about the books you're reviewing, you shouldn't be doing it. Despite whatever personal feelings I might have, I would treat the work of the author I know the same way as that of any author. I would write a fair and honest appraisal of the book, mentioning both its positive and negative qualities as I saw them.

Granted, it's a little harder to do if you're friendly with the author, and it risks hurting their feelings. If I can't tell a friend that their book had some problems, though, they aren't much of a friend.

I very seldom write wholly negative reviews anyway. Generally speaking, if I don't like a book to at least some extent, I don't review it. Mixed reviews, sure, but rarely outright pans. If the book truly were awful, I probably wouldn't write about it.

Deciding what to review

How do you decide what to read/review?

This question comes up a lot (in fact, it could be an Ask the Critic entry), so I answered it for M.J. Rose's excellent blog, Buzz, Balls & Hype:

Deciding which book to review, or even which book to read next, is one of the hardest parts of a critic's job. I receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 books every month. I try to read 12-15 and review 6 or 7.

On rare occasions, the selection is made for me, as when I'm reviewing something on assignment or writing a piece on someone and need to read their book first. Usually, though, the decision is up to me, and it's a tough one to make. I want to read as many different types of books (all within the crime fiction genre) as I can, and don't want to miss anything important, but I also want to be entertained.

The choice can be daunting, given the sheer numbers involved. Due to the constant inundation of books, I often feel overwhelmed with the possibilities. (I have read that many shoppers feel the same way when walking into bookstores. I sympathize.) Forget reading for pleasure; I'm just trying to make a small dent in the huge stacks that line the walls of my office.

On a good day, the choice is obvious. If a new book by someone whose work I love (like Laura Lippman, Barry Eisler or Robert Ferrigno, for example) comes in, I will usually read it as soon as I can. I'm not very good at delaying gratification. (Christmas mornings were always a bitch for me.)

Most of the time, though, it's harder than that.

Continue reading "David Montgomery on What to Review" over at Buzz, Balls & Hype.

Ask the Critic - Round Four

Naomi Hirahara, author of the delightful Gasa-Gasa Girl asks:

You have mentioned on your blog that you are working on your first novel. Do you find the critic in you coming out during the writing process? How much of thinking critically disrupts your creativity--or does it? Are there certain mistakes that you've seen in other books and vowed not to repeat, yet find yourself doing them anyway?

The biggest challenge that I've found from the critic side of my brain when I'm writing creatively is that I'm very much aware of what good writing is, and I'm very much aware of when I'm not creating it, so I have a tendency to be overly critical of my own work.

I have high expectations from my writing, and I want it to be as good as the best of what I read and write about. This makes for an excellent motivator, as it pushes me to work harder and try always to be my best. The downside, though, is that I can't realistically expect my work to be as good as the best of Ross Thomas or Lawrence Block or Barry Eisler or whoever. I have to accept that my work can only be the best that I can make it, and sometimes that's frustrating.

I think this is true of any writer, but the more you read and the more you examine writing, the more you know what else has been written and how great some of it is, and thus the bar is set that much higher.

I also find myself occasionally using a gimmick or some other shortcut that writers use to tell their story that might not be the best way creatively, but it's more convenient or easier to do. When that happens, I sometimes don't even realize it until I come back and read it later, but I do try to find better ways to get around those situations. It's probably inevitable that some cliches or devices will creep into anyone's writing, but since I criticize them in other people's work, I need to do my best to avoid them in mine.

The biggest challenge overall, I think, is that as someone who reads a large number of books critically, I know how other writers have told their stories, the kind of characters and plots and scenes they've used, so I have to work even harder not to duplicate those things. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

Ask the Critic - Round Three

The third installment of Ask the Critic features a question from Carissa Reid:

Do you find that being a critical reader interferes or limits with the enjoyment of reading?

It changes it, that's for sure. Reading critically makes it more difficult to enjoy a book that's poorly written or contains other obvious flaws. It makes it harder to ignore tricks that writers use, like cheating on the POV, or relying on cliches.

It makes it that much more enjoyable, though, to read a book that's skillfully done. You can really appreciate the talent that so many writers have, the clever ways of telling a story and the beauty of their prose.

I think the thing that interferes even more than being a critical reader is being a frequent reader. Reading as many books as I do, and seeing so many more, I have less tolerance for books that make no effort to strike new ground. Too many books are essentially just echoes of other books and I find that very tiresome.

For example, I've gotten to the point where I almost can't stand to read yet another generic PI novel that features the standard plot, the same old characters, the tired tropes of the genre. (This is the main reason I've been so dissatisfied with the winners of the St. Martin's Press/PWA award in recent years.)

If an author doesn't have a fresh and original story to tell, or something to say about the form, or a unique voice or style, why bother? Although the casual reader likely wouldn't pick up on those things, they become very obvious to the critic.

Even after all the reviewing I've done, though, I still primarily and above all read for enjoyment. The reason I started writing about books in the first place is because I love them. And I still do, maybe even more than ever. The day I stop loving enjoying reading will be the day I stop reviewing. But I can't imagine that ever happening.

Ask the Critic - Round Two

For the second installment of Ask the Critic, I chose a question from Harry Hunsicker, author of the PI novel Still River, which came out earlier this year:

How many novels (of any genre and for any reason) have you read in the past year?

An excellent question! As you might expect, it's a lot. As of yesterday, my total for the year so far was 111 books read. Almost all of them were in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre, with a few oddballs (like Harry Potter) thrown in.

My goal is to read 3 books every week, so it looks like I'm a little ahead of that. In 2004 I only managed 124 for the whole year, so I'm way ahead of that pace.

It's been frustrating of late, as I've been having trouble finding good things to read. I've picked up and then abandoned a lot more books than usual over the past couple of months.

Hopefully things will turn around soon, though. My wife just started reading Jeff Abbott's Panic last night and she's already telling me that I have to read and review it. So we'll see what happens.

(Don't forget to send in your questions!)

Ask the Critic - Round One

I announced yesterday that I was beginning a new feature called Ask the Critic, giving everyone the chance to fire away with their questions regarding reading, reviewing, or anything else related to the exciting and glamorous world of the book critic. The questions are starting to come in, so I picked one out of the hat.

Bob Morris, author of last year's Edgar-nominated debut Bahamarama, opens with:

I'll ask the same question that school kids ask when I speak to their classes and I've just finished talking about the craft of writing and the art of storytelling and how important it is to read, read, read. And the first question is always: How much money do you make?

Newspapers pay lousy for freelance contributors. How can you afford to do it?

Leave it to kids (and to Bob) to ask the most important question first. How can I afford to do it? Easy answer: I can't. I have a job. (Even more importantly, I have a wife with a good job.)

Ask the Critic

I'm launching a new feature here at the Crime Fiction Dossier, which might become a regular one if it appears that there's enough interest it.

Ask the Critic.

Is there anything you'd like to know about the fun and exciting world of the book critic? Anything about the hard-hitting and incisive process of book reviewing that you'd like to shed some light on? Want to know my measurements? Well, here's your chance!

The lines are open and I'm ready for your questions. Please post your suggestions to the comments section and I'll select the best one or two for special treatment in a later post. (If you'd prefer to be anonymous, you can email your question to me and ask me to leave your name out of it.)

Be careful what you ask, though -- I might just answer it.