[Rick Mullin]

I pulled this one bit from something Rose wrote in the Accomplished Members thread for Mary Meriam's review of Maz's Grasshopper to hopefully get a discussion going here*:

"Maz used to question the value of poetry book reviews, saying it would be more useful simply to provide a sampling of poems and let readers decide for themselves if they were any good."

I realize I may be taking this out of the context of Rose's point. I put it here on its own as a starter.

[Rick Mullin]

I will start by disagreeing. Criticism is in and of itself literature, of course, and reviews are criticism. It certainly matters to me that I am able to get a discerning reader's views of and responses to a book of poetry by reading a reivew. I thereby share my experience with the writer--I take it for granted I can get a copy of the book and read it myself (the commercial aspect of the review is not such a bad thing!).

[Rose Kelleher]

That was me, Rick, though I'm flattered by the mistake. I must have said something intelligent.

FWIW, I don't entirely agree either. Reviews can be enlightening. Most are either boring and useless or entertaining and useless. Anis Shivani for example is entertaining but little else; I would never buy or not buy a book on his say-so.

[Rick Mullin]

You indeed. Sorry, first person I attributed the Maz quote to, whose name has been expunged.

RM

[R. Nemo Hill]

I prefer the essay setting to the review setting.
It opens things up a bit more, involves the writer of the piece more intimately, and undermines the formulaic advertising aspect.

Nemo

[Philip Quinlan]

Reviews, as Rick says, are literature and can be entertaining in their own right. Or not, as Rose says.

As for the best way of helping the potential reader decide whether to buy a collection of poetry or not, I'd go further than Maz. Simply list the first line of every poem. Poems rarely improve after that. Not an infallible method, since the unscrupulous poet who cottoned on could simply write 40 dazzling openers followed by drivel, but if a first line doesn't grab you in some way and make you want to know more then the chances are you won't like the whole poem. I feel the same way about novels (although there you need a paragraph).

Nemo has a point about the essay, though. A well-written essay isn't out to convince you that something is better than you thought it was but is an aid to enjoyment (I don't see a lot of point in reading an essay about a poet or poem you don't already know).

There. I just agreed with everyone.

Philip

[Rick Mullin]

Another withdrawal. I'm feeling withdrawn~,:^)