In 2008, Maurice A. Williams began writing and posting book reviews to the internet, partially in effort to promote his own book Revelation and cement his name as a writer. All in all, he's written about a hundred reviews; yet his name and his book remain in relative obscurity. As he produced these reviews, he vastly revised his notion of what a book review (and a good book reviewer) should be. This collection gathers 70 reviews that Williams considers his finest pieces. Ideally, they should be read alongside the books they refer to; but they are also stand-alone works that offer fellow book reviewers and readers much food for thought.
Regular readers of book reviews will find that Williams adopts a straightforward, critical style in contrast to some, letting the reader know right off the bat if a given production is lacking. Often this criticism of a book's effectiveness is because Williams disagrees with an author's approach or contentions, pointing out errors in either logic or delivery.
The second thing to note about these reviews is that they reflect the opinions and approaches of their writer, who personalizes his style by using 'I' in a manner often omitted from more formal approaches to book reviewing.
Thus, for one example, the first review contains the words "I have mixed opinions," "I was surprised," and "I think this is another flaw" (speaking of A Secret of the Universe, by Stephen L. Gibson). These injections of personal observation do not come unsupported. The review closely considers the work and pinpoints faults and the reasons why Williams chose to comment as he did, following flawless logic as he assesses each piece.
The review of A.D. 62 Pompeii, in contrast, largely outlines the novel's plot of the novel, adding commentary on Rebecca East's solid character development and realistic portrait of the past based on her background as a professor and archaeologist.
Each review demonstrates a successful strategy on the part of the reviewer, showing how critical observations can be supported by a book's structure, approach, and creation; and how a reviewer's determination of value involve more than just summarizing a plot.
Not only does My Career as a Book Reviewer Defending the Faith successfully sum up the
extent of one book reviewer's career; but it presents different approaches to reviewing. Book
reviewers new to the industry and to writing about others' creations would do well to look at
this collection as a series of templates for producing powerful reviews, which could easily
serve as a solid example for creative writing classes covering the fine art of book
reviewing.