Tips for Your Book Critique

What Do You Think???

• By definition, book critics critique– Your opinion matters!– … but opinion without proof makes you just

another person with an opinion

• You provide the framework … the text supports your ideas

Critique v. Analysis

• Critique: a critical estimate or discussion– Opinion with support from the text; fun or interesting facts

from the text– Recommendation for would-be readers– … even some of your ideas based on your position,

research/prior knowledge of topic• Analysis: separation of a whole into its component parts

– More scholarly take on the work– Broad summary of the work– Recommendation for would-be readers– Opinion doesn’t resonate loudly

Getting Started

• 5WH should be the star of your show … in other words:– Who, what, when, where, why and how must

feature prominently in some part of your write up

• A couple of approaches:– Direct journo lead– Anecdotal lead

Typical News-Style Lead

When one looks back at the ‘60s and ‘70s, it’s hard to remove the politics, the social movements and the chaos of the time from the music: Joplin, the Beatles, the Stones, Iggy Pop, and, of course, David Bowie. He was, and is, of the ‘70s, acting as the personification of the era in all its his various personae fragmented glory.

So when Peter Doggett went about writing a book about David Bowie, he chose to leave him in his context. He writes exclusively about the Bowie of the ‘70s—up until and including Scary Monsters—and as he zeroes in on specific albums and songs, he pans out to what was going on in the world and how Bowie found himself moving through it.

Anecdotal Lead

• Allison Hewitt and her five colleagues at the Brooks and Peabody Bookstore are trapped together when the zombie outbreak hits. Allison reaches out for help through her blog, writing on her laptop and utilizing the military's emergency wireless network (SNET). It may also be her only chance to reach her mother. But as the reality of their situation sinks in, Allison's blog becomes a harrowing account of her edge-of-the-seat adventures (with some witty sarcasm thrown in) as she and her companions fight their way through ravenous zombies and sometimes even more dangerous humans.