New Dark Moon Review on Amazon.

[jrkeller]

I just saw a new and very critical review (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0932813909/ref=pd_sbs_d_3/002-7075215-0248011?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) on amazon regarding Percy and Bennett's Dark Moon.


I especially like this,



This is to be read for entertainment purposes only. The research involved here bears the same relationship to serious scholarship that jelly beans do to vegetables.

[Eta C]

Oh that's a good one. Right up there with two of the classic one (or two) line book reviews. The first being Ambrose Bierce who famously reviewed a book with the one sentence review "The covers of this book are too far apart." I'm not sure of the attribution of the other. It's either Mark Twain, H.L. Menken, or Groucho Marx. The review is a little longer. Two sentences. "I haven't stopped laughing since I picked up this book. Some day I intend to read it."

We could all wish Mssrs. Sibrel, Percy and Bennett would follow the advice of (I believe Dorothy Parker). When an author asked her if they should put more fire in their writing the response was "No. Vice Versa."

[Gillianren]

Abraham Lincoln had a good one, too--"For the people who like this sort of thing, this is just the sort of thing they'll like."

[JayUtah]

The wit cuts both ways. The following has been attributed variously (and perhaps apocryphally) to several artists whose work was reviewed unfavorably. The artist responds, "I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. Your review will soon be behind me."

[ktesibios]

Let's not forget Moses Hadas' classic:

"This book fills a much-needed gap" ;)

[JayUtah]

I think it's interesting to read the meta-reviews -- the reviews of other reviews.

You've got one lady taking us to task for "selective" debunking. As if we could fully refute a 568-page book in a few paragraphs! The point of bringing up certain selected items is to show the colossal errors of the authors. What the authors got right may be relevant, but the very simple, basic things that the authors got wrong should be a warning sign to potential readers of the book.

You've got a gentlemen trying to write off all the bad reviews as emotionally motivated (despite their having apparently given "selective" reasons).

And the good reviews tend to take the forms, "This book was an eye-opener" (i.e., I didn't know anything about Apollo prior to reading this book, and therefore didn't really know when the authors were out to lunch), or "Yes, the government is lying to us," (i.e., I'm predisposed to accept the authors' conclusions no matter how poorly supported).

My favorite review is still from Bill Woods (the real one). He identifies himself as one of the experts interviewed by the authors and then disagrees with their conclusions. Nothing is more telling than having your own authorities dispute your findings.

[AGN Fuel]

Let's not forget Moses Hadas' classic:

"This book fills a much-needed gap" ;)

My favourite is cited by James Thurber of a young girl asked to write a book review for her school. Her review read simply, "This book tells me more about penguins than I wanted to know."

What more could be said?

[Alasdhair]

Another Parkerism:

"This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly: it should be hurled with great force."