Pamela Paul
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Published: October 10th, 2014
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Pamela Paul is the editor of the New York Times Book Review. She has served as an editor for children’s books and features while also being the author of three books she’s written herself. She has contributed to The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Economist, as well as blogged for The Huffington Post.
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Howl: Knowing that you are going to write a book review, what sort of approach should a reviewer take before, during, and after reading the book?
Paul: When you are writing a book review, you need to read more carefully than if you are just reading for pleasure. Often, a reviewer will read a book first for pleasure, and then re-read to review. Other times, the reviewer reads the book once, but more slowly, taking copious notes. When I write a book review, I write in the book extensively, highlighting important phrases, things that pleased or displeased me, questions I have that I want to follow up on (i.e., Is this true? How do we know this? Is there a source for this material?). I will also note, usually on the inside front cover, quotes that I especially like, with page numbers marked. All book reviews need to be factually accurate in order to be trusted. When a reviewer writes for The New York Times Book Review, he or she needs to back up every fact with a page number. If a character has black hair, that needs to be packed up with a page number so that editors can verify that it's true? In general, a book review should contain four elements: a.) factual information (title, author, publisher, page number, price) b.) what it's about, whether it's the plot and theme of a book of fiction, or the subject matter for a book of nonfiction c.) context – what has the author written before, what other books have been written on the subject d.) judgment – what does the author do well, does the book succeed or fail, is it clear or confusing, how is the quality of the writing, how does it compare with other books on the topic or written by the same author Howl: Every book has an intended audience, but who is to say who will eventually like the book or not? With that in mind, when writing your book review, how do you determine the intended audience for your review? Paul: In general, The New York Times Book Review selects books that we will think will be of interest to your readers, in a number of major categories: fiction (novels, novellas, short stories, fiction in translation), nonfiction (science, social sciences, history, language, biography, etc.), poetry and children's books reviews, which consist of all genres. As editors, we try to make these selections in a way that broadly covers the most interesting books in these categories, reflecting a wide range of authors (in terms of geographic diversity, ethnic diversity, style, voice, etc.) and subject matter. Reviewers then determine who he or she thinks the book is for, and whether it will deliver on the expectations of those readers. Howl: After reading the book and as you are writing the review, how should the reviewer utilize quotes from the book to best illustrate their messages? Paul: Quotes are very important for two reasons. First, they help illustrate the story or subject matter, giving the review reader a sense of what's in the book. But second, and even more important, they give the reader a sense of the quality and type of writing. You may be very interested in a book about lions, but then really dislike a book that writes about lions as if they were people, or writes about them in an overly sentimentalized way or in a way that's just plain boring. A subject can sound intriguing or a plot interesting, but if the writing doesn't appeal to you, there's no way you'll want to read it. Quotes are there in a review to give you that sense. A good quote from an appealing book can be enough to make you pick up a book, even on a subject matter you thought you didn't care about. |