Writing Book Reviews

by John E. Drewry

Types of Reviews:
- objective
- subjective
- judicial (a scholarly appraisal, a critique)
- impressionistic (a book is interpreted against a background of the author's avowed purposes and a common sense estimate as to whether these have been achieved. Descriptive. For mass media.)

Different Genres:
1. Biography
(a). Novelist invents situations that will rouse a reader's emotions; biographer brings out the significance of situations that already exist.
(b). Types of biographies - autobiography, letters and diaries, authorized biography, campaign biography, debunking biography (depreciatory), fictionized biography, panegyric (eulogistic).
(c). Questions to ask:
  • - Does the book give a full-length picture of the subject?
  • - What phases of the subject's life receive greatest space? Is there justification for this?
  • - What is the point of view of the author?
  • - How are peculiarities, idiosyncrasies, weaknesses, foibles, and the like treated?
  • - How is the subject-matter organized?
  • - Is the treatment superficial, or does the author show extensive study into the subject?
  • - What source materials were used in the preparation of this book?
  • - Is the work documented?
  • - Does the author endeavor to get at hidden motives?
  • - What important new facts about the subject's life are revealed in the book?
  • - What is the relationship of the subject's career to contemporary history?
  • - Is the subject still living?
  • - How does this book compare with others about the same person? by the same author?
(d). Qualities of a good biography - courageous and uncompromising in search for facts and honest in interpretation; emphasizing multiplicity of vital energy at the heart of a single soul.

2. History
(a). Questions to ask:
  • - The training of the author?
  • - What else has the author written and how did they received?
  • - The historical period of the book?
  • - The sources of the book, how thorough?
  • - Broad outline or detail?
  • - Is the style reportorial or interpretative?
  • - What's the author's point of view?
  • - Is the treatment superficial or profound?
  • - Who's the intended reader?
  • - The use of dates, maps, illustrations, charts?

3. Contemporary Thought
(a). Questions to ask:
- Is the subject-matter or the style more important?
- Who is the author, and what right has he to be writing on this subject?
- What seems to have been the author's purpose in writing this book?
- What contributions to knowledge and understanding are made by this book?

4. Travel and Adventure
(a). Questions to ask:
  • - The credibility of the writer?
  • - The purpose of the book?
  • - Anything new in content and treatment?
  • - Contributions to man's knowledge of geography, government, economics, folklore, customs?
  • - Does the book has news value?

5. Fiction
(a). Dominant injunction: do not give away the story
(b). Four essential elements to the novel: the characters; the plot; the setting; the style.
(c). Questions to ask:
  • - What are the sources of the characters?
  • - Is the direct or indirect plan used?
  • - How are the elements of plot (introduction, suspense, climax, conclusion) handled?
  • - What's the relationship of plot to character delineation?
  • - Is there a sub-plot?

6. Children's books
(a). Indicate the ages and/or interest group for which the book is intended.
(b). Describe the type(s) of illustrations used, naming the illustrator and his qualification.
(c). Keep literary criticism brief but explicit.

* The author was the first dean of Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and a co-creator of the Peabody Reward.
at