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[prof_smartypants]

I searched, and found some very old threads, but not too many helpful suggestions, so I thought I'd post here for myself and any others looking for tips and tricks to writing book reviews.

I'm about to do my first one for a major journal (i.e. not a student journal), and don't want to make an ass of myself. Any tips or tricks you all can share on how to tackle this for a first timer?

FWIW, this is an edited volume, so any thoughts specifically looking at that type of book would be especially helpful.

[hegemony]

Edited volumes are tiresome to review.  Basically the most helpful reviews are a bit formulaic.  You go through the articles summarizing each in a line or two.  You point out any that stand out in terms of quality or what have you, and praise their attributes.  In the unlikely event that any of the articles make groundbreaking or controversial claims, you draw attention to that.  You remark on whether the collection hangs together as a whole.  You say that either the coherence helps or that such a volume can't be expected to be particularly coherent anyway.  You say whether it's very useful, partially useful, or only interesting to [a certain category of scholar].  Maybe you comment on the excessive number of typos or the bad quality of the reproductions or the fact that the binding falls apart.  You try not to let doing all this eat up too much of your time.

[neutralname]

How many words do you have?  Some journals have a strict word limit, and that means that you have to learn to be extremely succinct.  In reviewing an edited book, that can be particularly difficult.  You will probably do best to focus on one theme from the book that connects some of the articles.

[fiona]

Don't trash anyone who's powerful in your field, until you have tenure.

They may come back to bite you seriously.

The Fiona

[totoro]

I use them basically to write an opinion piece about a topic with the book as backdrop. But some people probably think that that is bad behaviour.

[not_a_gradstudent1]

Don't do a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book; instead, focus on the overarching goals and themes and draw on specific chapters as illustrations. Elaborate on and contextualize the significance of the project, be fair, thoughtful, and diplomatic in articulating your critiques, and wrap up with forward-looking praise. And (speaking as a one-time book review editorial assistant) get it in on time and slightly under the word limit.

[prof_smartypants]

Don't do a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book; instead, focus on the overarching goals and themes and draw on specific chapters as illustrations. Elaborate on and contextualize the significance of the project, be fair, thoughtful, and diplomatic in articulating your critiques, and wrap up with forward-looking praise. And (speaking as a one-time book review editorial assistant) get it in on time and slightly under the word limit.

This is what my gut was telling me.

Thanks for all the help, people!