Twitter
Should book sites NOT allow reader reviews?
Maybe.
Justice matters to me.
Readers of this blog know I cannot stand reviews saying “I liked it! I really, really liked it!! Five stars!!!” They also know I fly into apoplectic rage at the notion of reviews written by family, friends, and pen-named ghosts. I also rail on authors trading 5-star reviews as a part of an underground, indie-authors, publishing mafia. Is there more to despise about reader reviews? Read on!
I read on my Twitter feed a conversation in which two individuals discussed a third who was not “down with” GLBT literature. In fact, he despised GLBT literature enough to go around writing scathing reviews of gay-themed pieces.
Oy vey! Santa Madre de Dios protéjanos de locura!
I have two responses.
The first is that this latest piece of hurl just proves—AGAIN—how utterly pointless ratings and reviews are. I am perfectly OK with someone not liking a piece of literature and saying so, but if the person is anti-GLBT then why waste time reading GLBT literature in the first place?
I do not give a flying fig about Harry Potter, therefore I will not read the books.
If a person is going to write a review, he should at least read the piece in the first place. I never read anything I am not interested in and will bluntly refuse on that basis alone.
My second response is this: I am perfectly OK with someone NOT being into GLBT literature. Someone could be GLBT friendly and not be into the genre.
Beyond that, however, tolerance of something, contrary to what some dolts think, does NOT mean liking it. Heck, tolerance does not even giving approval. To be tolerant, one needs only to live and let live. THAT is what tolerance really means. Look it up sometime.
Therefore, if GLBT literature is not appealing to an individual, my advice is move on.
The person going around trashing GLBT titles is the same type of nimrod who, forty years ago would have bashed Chicano literature when it exploded into the mainstream, or fifty years ago when African-American literature did likewise. This person, no doubt, believes his diatribes will kill off sales of GLBT titles and thereby end all that strange GLBT stuff.
King of denial.
The function of reviews is to attract readers and to drive sales. The reviews I have written have been worded to encourage sales because I can say they are engaging reads. No review from me means I cannot recommend a title. That simple.
Note to Michael Mandrake: a review is in the pipeline.
The function of reviews is also to get more than 99 cents for an ebook download.
Yet, we have utter crap for reviews.
Even with those employed to review works, there is still the risk of bias. For years, if the Los Angeles Times hated a movie, a new album by an artist, or a novel, then I knew it would be one that sane people like me would love.
Maybe the best advice is buyer beware.
That is sad; I posit.
1 comments:
Caveat emptor, as always. Good post, Lee. There are genres(GLBT would be one) that I can't stand, but the idea of going and reviewing something you haven't read simply to trash it. Good grief. . .
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