Very informative review, Susan. Thank you for the link.
The info about writing Amazon reviews is shocking. More and more online content is offered based on 'pay to play' but reviews on Amazon are often helpful to others. They are forever soliciting reviews from customers, which is fine for most merchandise, but it does not make sense to apply it to books. An erudite and articulate review is helpful to shoppers, whether the reviewer read the book through the local library, received it as a gift, etc. They do answer the phone, act on problems, and invite feedback (in my experience,) so perhaps we should all express that view to them.
I suppose that requiring some history does guard against people opening new fake accounts in order to post something, but equating that requirement with minimum shopping dollars does not seem right. There are people who do not have the means to do much online shopping. In Canada shipping might cost more than the item being purchased, whereas it might be available locally for less. This is no longer the case with most books though. However pleasant it is to hear occasionally of a few indie bookstore revivals, finding exactly the book(s) one wants likely requires specifically asking a bookstore to order it and then returning when it is in. Unless you do that frequently, the bookstore is also likely to neglect notifying you.
As a shut in, that option is not open to me. I try to bookshop Amazon.ca when possible because of shipping costs, but more than half the poetry books I want aren't stocked here.
Enough of that. Your review (together with your poem) put the book on my (always too long) wishlist.
Best,
Vera
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