Holy self-righteous, Batman! Thou shalt read the book, damn it! Thou shalt not covet thy best friend's ass, nor shall thou review thy best friend's wife's book. And thou shall never review thine own book, under thine own or any other name. Nor shalt thou trash thy enemy's book. Thou shalt not bow down to … Continue reading The Ten Commandments of Book Reviewing →

As Proposed to The Mystery Writers of America I shall try to remember that while the critic writes for The Ages, the first duty of the reviewer is to help the prospective reader to decide whether or not he'll enjoy the book in question. Among the extremely diverse books lumped together as "mysteries, " I … Continue reading Anthony Boucher’s Proposed Code For Mystery Reviewers →