Good on Bad

Alex Good on "negative reviews" in the Globe--ironically, a paper known for quashing same. I don't know that Alex contributes anything new to the debate, but the arguments he makes are as valid as ever. Personally, I think book review editors are more responsible for the climate of quietude than reviewers themselves are. Most of the regular book reviewers in the country seem willing to say a book is bad. But most reviews aren't written by regular book reviewers, they're written by amateurs. And the amateur, as the name implies, wants nothing so much as to love.