Weasel Wordsmith doesn't quite understand what book reviews are for, or how to write them. But Kyell Gold is still awesome.

1. Buy the book

2. Come back here and tell me what you think

via weaselwordsmith.com

Considering that Lovejoy Weasel has historically curb-stomped any book that wasn't written by one of his friends, including those published by Bad Dog Books, it's tough to talk about what he's doing without sounding like a whiny bitch.

So, disclaimer: I am not a whiny bitch, and I'm not going to express my opinions of Lovejoy's blog, since there's some damn good contributions there from folks like Kyell Gold, K. M. Hirosaki and Not Tube, among others.

But this one I really have to question. In a post announcing his intention to review Isolation Play, Kyell Gold's new novel, he asks his audience to follow the two-step plan outlined above.

I understand wanting to use whatever resources at your disposal to help your friends -- and for that matter, I, too, encourage you to buy the book, as I've heard nothing but good about it, and Kyell Gold has a top-shelf rep.

But isn't the point of a book review to provide your audience with information that can help them make a decision whether or not to buy a book?

That's what his previous reviews have done. Giving reasons why Sofawolf books are great, and giving reasons why other publishers' books are bad (tee hee).

What's the point of writing a review about a book when said review should only be read by people who've already bought and read it?

Literary analysis and discussion is totally valid and I look forward to the weasel's thoughts -- though I'd hope he infuses it with his own insight rather than simply waiting for commenters on his blog to raise interesting points for him.

But to place an analysis intended for owners of the book alongside reviews intende to inform people whether they should or shouldn't buy a particular title seems, to me profoundly disingenuous.

(I repeat: totally not being a whiny bitch. Just because somebody writes reviews and styles himself a journalist shouldn't make him exempt from criticism. Also, Kyell Gold's book is totally worth buying and if you're at Further Confusion, try and find him to get a signature!)