How to Write a Book Review

With his tongue pressed firmly in his cheek (we hope!), Independent columnist Miles Kington takes on sharing the art of reviewing a book:

Evelyn Waugh once said that the golden rule of book reviewing is that you should never give a bad review to a book you have not read. This is now seen as rather old-fashioned and romantic. No book reviewer ever has time to read the whole book, not for the money they are paying you. The vital thing is to give the impression that you HAVE read the whole book.

Kington plays it for dry laughs, but those hoping to actually learn anything will be disappointed. Those with more than a passing interest in this topic could do worse than reading Martin Amis’ 2001 book, The War Against Cliché.

Though a couple of critically damned novels have damaged Amis’ star, this collection of Amis’ reviews and and essays will remind disenchanted readers of why they loved this author in the first place. Here we find him taking aim at Philip Roth’s 1974 My Life As A Man, Norman Mailer’s The Essential Mailer from 1982 and remembering Vladimir Nabokov for Atlantic Monthly in 1992. (“In a sense Lolita is too great for its own good. It rushes up on the reader like a recreational drug more powerful than any yet discovered or devised. In common with its narrator, it is both irresistible and unforgivable.”)

In all, The War Against Cliché includes reviews of the work of over 60 authors. Those wanting to learn about the reviewer’s art could do worse -- far worse -- than following Amis’ example here. He writes clearly and with passion and you never -- ever -- wonder if he’s read the book.

And, speaking of Amis, see him handling himself well in the face of some pretty goofy questions in a recent reader-driven profile. (Though the Guardian blog didn’t agree with my assessment, asking, “Just why is Martin Amis so angry today?”