Reader and Reviewer Culture Today

Anyone and everyone can write a book review these days as long as they have access to the Internet. People no longer have to go through the long process of editing and so on for their review to get published in an official publication. These public reviews by normal people, meaning people like us, who aren’t exactly “experts” in the field of English and composition, give potential readers a different perspective on what a particular book is about.

I was going through the reviews for Tina Fey’s biography Bossypants and found that the “most helpful” review was one written by Alan Mazer titled “Good Read!”. At the top left corner of the review we can see that 503 out of 547 people thought his review was helpful. Does this mean that it is a good review? He begins the review by describing Bossypants as a “good memoir”; justifying why he gave the book a five star rating. By expressing the fact that he isn’t a Tina Fey fan, he makes his review relatable to a much wider range of readers and potential readers interested in the book. People who are fans of Tina Fey will probably have a biased opinion on the book, affected by their affection for the author. Therefore, in his review, Mazer speaks for most of the people who either don’t know who Tina Fey is, or has never been a big fan of hers. Since this book is a biography/memoir, the review describes Tina Fey as a funny and honest woman who has worked hard to “make it” in a male dominated industry. Mazer also recommends that not only Tina Fey fans, but working mothers and wives read this book as it may relate to what they themselves are going through. Furthermore, since he is a man and he admits to enjoying the book, he shows that Bossypants will appeal to a wider range of audience than just women juggling work and their personal life.

As I mentioned earlier, public reviews work to give readers an alternative perspective when deciding on a book. By allowing the public to post reviews on their website, Amazon stands to gain more profit. Even if a book gets a poor review by a professional, some readers might be swayed by a review written by somebody they can relate to. The public reviewers don’t claim to be experts; their reviews are just their personal opinions. Although “experts” who write book reviews try to be objective, they are still human and everyone has different tastes. Even so, many people still prefer and trust expert reviews, thinking that public reviews are less reliable. Do you think that this is a legitimate concern when it comes to book reviews?

With countless numbers of book reviews currently on the Internet, we can see that book reviews possess some form of cultural value. A review of a book written in the 1950s for example would be different or the same depending on the values held today and if they have changed from that time. Also, since it is only natural to want to fit in, public book reviews and ratings tend to skew on one side. They show potential readers that this is what majority of the public think of the book and this might affect a person’s decision when forming an opinion on the book.

Personally, I don’t read book reviews before I read a book so I can form my own opinion on it. I know that if I read the reviews, my mind will consciously or subconsciously create expectations for the book that were not there previously. What do you think? Is it better to read reviews before reading a book?