| Author | Message | ||
     Troy "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Troy Post Number: 272 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
We all know reviews of authors books are subjective. Two profesisonal and respected book reviewers can give almost any book completely conflicting reviews. However I never really considered how a reader's perception of the review is just as subjective. I read Linda's review (though not the book) and I was not dissuaded from considering reading the book. In fact, I got the impression it was worth checking out. However this reader got a very different impression: AALBC.com visitor writes: "I am really taken aback by the review given Gangsta Lean by Linda Watkins. After reading it, I was left wondering if she was talking about the same novel that so many people loved so much and are anxiously awaiting Rochan's next work. I,for one, had a hard time putting the novel down once I began reading it. If anyone can be lulled to sleep reading this novel, there really is a problem and it's not with the novel. It's a pleasure to read a piece by a young, black male that can actually spell a word and invoke proper verb tense. There were a few typographical errors, but they do not even come close to some of the stuff I've seen you people give rave reviews..Kudos to Rochan Morgan for a work well done." —Lynette Durant Read Original Review at: http://reviews.aalbc.com/gangsta_lean.htm | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2173 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Lynette Durant should really be smarter than this. The point of a REVIEW is for the person doing the review to give their honest and personal opinion. Linda Watkins is a capable, respected writer and she did that. Now the P.R. Lady, worried about loss in sales, comes along shooting off emails whining that someone didn't see the book the way she needs it to be seen. You can't do that. It's a REVIEW. And it wasn't written by Ms. Durant.....but by Linda Watkins. Now I have a very important TIP for Ms. Durant: "If you act unprofessionally like this with certain publications and venues-----they will not review your client's (idol's) work next time." So you should accept the review, and keep stepping. A lot of people plain don't like this GENRE and they downgrade it on that alone (not that I'm saying that's what Linda has done). Kola | ||
| Troy "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Troy Post Number: 277 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Kola, as you know, the review that no one takes issue with as yet to be written. Is is always better to have a reivew of your book written than not. Do you recall Wanda Coleman unfavorable review of Maya Agelou's A Song Flung Up to Heaven? "Unfortunately, the Maya Angelou of A Song Flung Up to Heaven seems small and inauthentic, without ideas, wisdom or vision. Something is being flung up to heaven all right, but it isn't a song." Check out her response to the furor caused her review. She also provides an interesting and informative retrospective Black books. | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2237 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Troy, I know all about Wanda Coleman's ordeal...and especially the fact that she was BANNED by Eso Won Books. These 2 men also banned my books. I'm a huge Maya Angelou fan, however, and although I have Wanda Coleman listed on my web site as my favorite poet-----I felt her review was slightly "too personal". Whatever Wanda thought of the material, content and the way it was presented....Maya did not deserve to be made out to be some no-talent clown trying to con the reader. Maya Angelou is one of our greatest mothers. She's EARNED the right to say what she wants and she deserves to be respected. Not only that...she's a helluva a writer. Otherwise, so many MILLIONS of people wouldn't be so drawn and deeply affected by her work. I use her book "Even the Stars Look Lonesome" as one of the bibles for my own life. The wisdom and caring this woman brings is SUPERNATURAL. I love Alice Walker---but I didn't like her last novel. It was boring. I can say that...without trashing Alice as a person. It was the Los Angeles Times that wanted to Zapp Maya and they used another black woman writer to do it. And specifically it was an editor named Steve Wasserman, which is why I called him a "total dick-shit" on Page 82 of my book "Nile River Woman". And I'm going to get Francine Prose's white ass for attacking Maya at the school board, too. But no---I didn't agree with how ESO WON banned Wanda's books and I did think that Wanda could have been a little less jealous in her review. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 2933 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Everybody talks about all the poorly-written books nowadays but suddenly there are a spate of reviewers out there whose only credentials are that thay have proclaimed themselves reviewers and their output leaves something to be desired. Which is to say that many reviewers could benefit from having their reviews reviewed and proof-read and edited. And to me, a review should not simply be an opinion but should also be an analysis as to why their reviewer expresses either a positive or negative opinion. | ||
| Kola_boof "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 819 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Since I've always thought you would make the PERFECT book reviewer, Cynique---so analytical, great at self-editing, great at soundbites with gift for playing devil's advocate--- I will agree with you 100% (I love your writing style) But in Wanda Coleman's case, she was a good choice to write a review---she's a good reviewer. The problem is that she has a beef with Maya going back to the 1960's, and I think she's also slightly envious of Maya's "celebrity". Wanda is...arguably...a more gifted poet and has been nominated for the National Book Award. But I still say that Mari Evans and Maya Angelou were more important and were social activists more than literary soul stirrers. Wanda is blaming Maya for having a larger than life persona----and some of just do. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 2934 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Oops. Writing "their" in the last sentence of my post when I meant "the" was just my way of making a point about proof reading. heh-heh. And Wanda wasn't who I had in mind in my post. This woman is a professional writer, even if she is over the top. | ||
| Troy "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Troy Post Number: 281 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Kola I agree with you regarding Cynique, I would love to publish Cynique's her book reviews on this site. Someone (I forget the name) wrote a really interesting assessment of On Beauty on one of the posts here. I even checked out some of the references. It is amazing how much On Beauty has been analyzed. White Teeth is the next book on list of book to read. After reading that post I really wanted to read the author (yeah I know I'm late hopping on the Zadie band wagon, but I've focused on my self published peeps for a while). A good review can get you excited about an author. My point with using Coleman's example was to illustrate that reviews even terrific one will find those who disagree. Kola's response is indicative of this fact. Now that we are on the subject, Kola, was there anything Thomas said that you disagree with specifically, or were you just displeased with someone taking n a cultural icon; in much the same way people were upset with Barbershop "dissing" Rosa Parks (God rest her soul). Cynique: A reviewer to review the reviewer interesting concept. Like authors, reviewers do not need credentials. The credentials prove nothing. The are ex-convicts with 8th grade educations writing books that sell more copies that those with PhD's. Depending upon who you talk to the books are better written too. Lets use Thumper as an example. When I first started publishing his reviews they were the complete opposite of what one though a review should be. Thumper used the word "I" , he used slang, and nothing was ever edited. Not your "normal" review -- many, many authors wanted Thumper to review their book. Indeed recipients of all of his recent reviews have paid for the privilege. Only one (if memory serves) recently was strongly favorable, Leonce Gaiter's Bourbon Street (http://aalbc.com/reviews/bourbon_street.htm). It is not the credentials that matter but the market place. You can't sell something people refuse to buy. | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2241 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Troy, I disagreed with Coleman's overall suggestion that Maya Angelou has (1) a "history" of conning the public...(2) is only famous/renowned because she's glamorous...(3)cashes in on her run-ins with Dr. King and Malcolm for dramatic effect. I'm in no way in love with Maya because she's a cultural icon. You know yourself that I detest many of our cultural icons---look at how I trash John Edgar Wideman, Poitier and Belafonte. But I don't pretend to be doing a REVIEW when I jump somebody and I never denied that J Edgar Wideman is a genius writer and that Poitier is a gifted actor---I just come right out and trash them because I don't like them. I throw popcorn at the screen. But Maya Angelou really is gifted, far more than she's been given credit. She's written seriously EXCELLENT books. And like me--her public image and the fact that she's an interesting person (like I am)...OVERSHADOWS her work. I see this happening to me. I'm a solid writer with a very distinctive style....but my so called "colorful" personality (and topless photos) are becoming known, while people don't bother to read the actual work. Wanda's review... I thought the whole thing was a personal attack. And like I said--Wanda Coleman is listed on my web site as my favorite poet. So it's not that I don't like Wanda, I love Wanda. But she was USED by Steve Wasserman to attack Maya. And Wanda used that review to bring ATTENTION to herself. It made her a celebrity over night. | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2242 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
BTW.... I never PROTESTED against Wanda's review. Once a review is published---you can't take it back and the reader can disagree, but you can't fault the venue for publishing it. It's an OPINION...a WARNING or a SALES PITCH. Publicists and authors cannot go around whining about the review process. Either your book was liked or it wasn't. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 2937 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well, Troy, a good editor recognizes the flavor and uniqueness of a writer and does not tamper with it, be it the work of a reviewer or an author. And every body can benefit from the proof reading which will catch misspelled or incorrectly used words or punctuation. I understand that in the realm of the black book world, a witty, nitty-gritty approach to reviewing is what gets over but, in the process, this can give rise to a cult of personality which can then reach the point where the reviewer starts to outshine the author! That's why in our community, the works of the late Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson's audiences went mostly unnoticed and the plays by Tyler Perry, creator of the "Madear" character are sold out. So I would agree that credentials can be measured by success. | ||
| Troy "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Troy Post Number: 289 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Honestly Cynique this reviews stuff is not easy at all. You'd be surprised how many people can get pissed off during the process of publishing a review and I'm not talking about the author of the book. Getting a well written, unbaised, professionally edited review of a book is not easy or free. That is the reason very few of them get written -- especially for self published authors. This will not change until someone figures out how a business model that works for book reviews. As long as authors refuse to pay publishers and publishers refuse to pay writers this will be the state of the Black book world... However, I'm optimistic about Black books. As our publishers become bigger and better -- our reviews will improve. More and more of our authors "get it" today. Major publishers are currently sleeping at the wheel -- watch. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 2979 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well, Troy, I realize that times have changed. Nothing is the way it used to be. The writing profession was once just that; a profession. But now it has become the domain of amateurs. To me, all you should really expect from reviewers nowadays is that they try and maintain their credibility by not being guilty of what they criticize authors for. | ||
| Steve_s "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Steve_s Post Number: 176 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
I'm almost finished with "Who Slashed Celanire's Throat" and I happened to find the Black Issues review posted on the Internet, apparently written by a doctoral candidate. Here are two paragraphs: Sent to live with nuns, Celanire becomes a missionary in Adjame-Santay, a small town on the Ivory Coast. The story begins its twists and turns when Celanire arrives in Guadeloupe as a teacher for the Home of Half-Castes. Upon her arrival, the school director dies, and Celanire takes over. Death and misfortune appear to follow her. The first sentence in the review is correct, however, the second sentence inexplicably contradicts it. The story begins when Celanire arrives in The Ivory Coast from France to teach at the Home for Half-Castes. Btw, Adjame-Santay may be a small town, but it's also the capital. The second paragraph gets the geographical sequence wrong; the story begins in The Ivory Coast, and then the scene shifts to the island of Cayenne off the coast of Guyana in South America, then to Guadeloupe, and then, as the reviewer correctly states, to Peru, and finally back to Guadeloupe. It's not hard to miss because these locations are also the titles of the novel's 5 sections. Of course, Guadeloupe is not a town, so, for example, in the first section, Thomas de Brabant is the governor of the recently-pacified French colony of the Ivory Coast; then in the third section, he's appointed the French colonial governor of the island of Guadeloupe. I know it sounds like I'm being really picky, but since reviews are the topic of this thread, I just wanted to point out that it seems like the reviewer is just going through the motions. | ||
| Troy "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Troy Post Number: 295 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Steve_s, This is the second of two posts of your I read, just minutes apart (good posts I might add). However I've noticed that each post I read of yours had nothing to do with the original topic. I suspect that you may not know how to initiate a new topic. You may initiate a new topic for discussion by clicking the Start New Thread link at the bottom of each discussion board. Thanks for posting... | ||
| Steve_s "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Steve_s Post Number: 177 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Troy, thanks for the feedback, however, your own rules for the Inbox state that "posters may post responses but not start new threads," therefore, I don't really don't know how to take your direction to start a new thread. If I'm not mistaken, earlier on this thread you were referring to my "synopsis" (let's call it; I don't presume to be posting "reviews") of Zadie Smith's "On Beauty." I haven't posted in a few days, therefore I'm not quite sure which previous post of mine you may be referring to, however, I try to play within the rules, and I'm sorry if I've exceeded the boundaries. | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2296 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Steve you are such a humble, friendly person. I like you so much.  | ||
| Steve_s "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Steve_s Post Number: 178 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well Kola, I appreciate those sentiments very much and hope to discuss some novels with you sometime in the very near future. PS I've read 20 pages of Happy Baby so far. Not my usual fare, but I'll try to hang in there (or else move on to Tsisti). steve | ||
| Kola Moderator Username: Kola Post Number: 2297 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Steve, I've been enjoying your posts for years. I even got Nurudinn Farah to read one of your posts last year! You can always email me: kolaboof_email@yahoo.com |
