Writing a Book Review

What is the title of the article? Who is the author? Where and when did the article appear? 

• The Endangered Scholarly Book Review
• Written by Lynn Worsham
• April the 1st, 2012
• The Chronicle of Higher Education (online)

 What are the author’s credentials? 

• professor of English at Idaho State University and editior of JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, & Politics
• B.A. in English and Psychology
• M.A. in British and American Literature
• Ph.D. in Humanities

What is the nature of the article?

• newspaper article (published in an academic journal) presenting and discussing a current problem

 What is the theme of the article?

• scholarly journals seem to eliminate their book - review sections 
• reasons: journal space is very expensive, do readers pay attention to reviews?, there are just too many books being published 

Why did the author write it?

• in her opinion, a book review is a valuable and relevant element for intellectual life. It is sad that book reviews seem to disappear

What does the author claim? 

• reviews are important for the scholarly community: which book is useful?
• reviews are “a good barometer of the books’ critical reception”
  a good review not only summarizes the content but gives a critical analysis

How does she support this?

• There are an abundance of new publications and a well-crafted book review allows us to make a well-grounded decision on what to read carefully, skim or disregard amongst them.

• By the number and statements of substantive reviews published in reputable journals one is able tell of its’ reception; they constitute an indicator.

• In the author’s opinion, to write a review is also “an excellent way for advanced doctoral students and new faculty members to develop and practice the intellectual skills involved in scholarly writing.” Besides, a review which is published in a reputable journal is not only beneficial for the young author, but also gives them “greater confidence in their ability to process, assess, and contextualize book-length projects.”

• Book reviews which deal with the topic in-depth and are being published in scholarly journals instead of blogs provide a scholarly enrichment.

What is the overall appeal of the article (or lack thereof)? Give reasons. 

• In my opinion, the overall appeal of the article is the line of argument as well as her recommendation how to write a useful review both because it is conclusive and sensible. The author illustrates various points of views and points out the benefits of a well-crafted review. Through that, her claims become quite convincing.

Do you agree or disagree with what the writer suggests? Why? Friederike

• I agree on the necessity of substantive reviews, because we are being flooded with information and it is hard to keep track of the essential. I also think that one major problem of our society is the tendency to deal with topics superficially instead of giving an in-depth examination. Reviews that summarize and reflect the content could be a good way to tackle this problem.
• I do not agree on her aversion to spreading scholarly information via internet, e. g. blogs, because I think it contributes to the plurality of information search and reaches younger people, too. Journals and web pages should complement each other and coexist.

What options does the article suggest? Explain. 

• One option the article suggests is to write effective review essays as a reflection on a disciplinary topic common to the books under review. The idea is not to put many small reviews of two or three books in a row but to put the different books in conversation with one another and structure the essay according to the issues that come up. 

Does the article provide any new insights for you or a larger reading audience? 

• I think it does give new insight for the reader. Even though some people might have noticed that book reviews of good quality have been withdrawn from regular newspapers, the article provides causes of this problem and even offers a direct advice. The complete way of developing a review from the reviewed book up to the published book review is described and shows the dimension of this issue.
  

Give your overall evaluation and recap your main reasons for this.

• Overall the article has appealed to me and has given me new insights into the field of scholarly book review.The article managed to make me aware of the importance of scholarly book review. This is to a large extent due to the excellent line of argument Worsham presented. The benefits of scholarly books reviews are twofold. First of all the gain young scholars and doctoral candidates take away from writing reviews is convincing and promising. Furthermore it gives them the chance to publish and receive public notice. -Second the benefits for professors and other people interested in the field are also great, since they usually do not have the time to read all the new books that are being published. The only argument that I can’t support is her aversion to online reviews and the shift to debating scholarly books on the internet. While I can understand her fear, I feel it is necessary to go with the times.

Would you recommend this article, and if so, to whom? Kim

• I would recommend this article to fellow students of the university. I think it is especially interesting for young people who are prospective postgraduate students. The article would also be interesting for employees of the university and professors who might be dealing with the same difficulties in publishing scholarly book reviews.