Books are having a moment. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a massive international community of readers and writers finding connection and conversation on social media. The New York Times estimated that the #BookTok hashtag on TikTok was responsible for the sale of 20 million books in 2021<\/a> alone. The #Bookstagram hashtag on Instagram has been used more than 100 million times, and the pages of Threads and Bluesky are alive with blind items about bookish happenings. Even Baltimore had its own book festival scandal<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n So with interest in the written word at an apparent fever pitch, it was a rude awakening last week when the Associated Press, which touts a daily reach of 4 billion people<\/a>, announced the end of its regular book reviews<\/a>. The deciding factor: a lack of digital engagement and the overwhelming effort and time it takes.<\/p>\n Professional critics and authors alike mourned the decision as the end of an era that prized expertise and skill, while others dismissed that concern as elitism at a time when opinion and influence has been democratized. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re moving into a post-knowledge world, where expertise is irrelevant. \u2018My opinion is at least as good as your knowledge\u2019 has become the attitude,\u201d said Scott Eyman, film historian, author of several nonfiction books on Hollywood history<\/a> and the former books editor and arts critic for The Palm Beach Post, for which I once reviewed both movies and music.<\/p>\n To me, a well-written review is defined by nuance and context, whether it\u2019s done by a paid professional or by an amateur TikTokker. I have read and watched a lot of social media criticism with depth, and a lot that\u2019s more \u201cGo girl! I like this cover!\u201d There\u2019s room for both.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about handing down a verdict and saying, \u2018Discussion over.\u2019 It\u2019s not saying, \u2018I liked it,\u2019 or, \u2018I didn\u2019t like it,\u2019\u201d said journalist and author Mark Harris,<\/a> formerly a columnist and executive of Entertainment Weekly, once my go-to read as a lover of the arts who also writes about them.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just an opinion. Anyone can do that. I think good criticism opens the door to a piece of art and invites you to walk through and experience that with the person writing the criticism,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like we\u2019ve been seeing for a while now how critical writing in newspapers and magazines have suffered death by a thousand cuts.\u201d <\/p>\n Harris, myself and Eyman have, as the latter put it, \u201ca foot in both camps,\u201d having had experience as journalists and as authors whose work has been critiqued. Eyman experienced the power of an AP review with his 2020 book, \u201cCary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise.\u201d He was unable to promote the book on tour because of the pandemic, but \u201cthe AP ran a rave review. I wasn\u2019t traveling or getting on an airplane, so I know it sold a lot of copies. The AP\u2019s reach, even in 2020, was extraordinary.\u201d <\/p>\n So what\u2019s the big deal with the AP? For one, Harris notes, those reviews were made available to readers whose papers don\u2019t have in-house critics. But he and Eyman think this decision is part of a larger societal move away from professional criticism in general. <\/p>\n The New York Times recently announced the reassigning of four of their cultural critics <\/a>in an effort \u201cto bring different perspectives to core disciplines as we help our coverage expand beyond the traditional review.\u201d On Bluesky, Time magazine film critic Stephanie Zacharek<\/a> wrote that the move by the New York Times and other publications making similar changes was \u201cpart of a larger pattern of a war against the tradition of arts & letters, and against expertise in general.\u201d<\/p>\n When Harris posted his concern about the AP\u2019s decision on Bluesky, he was called \u201cincredibly arrogant.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt is not gatekeeping to value some opinions more than others,\u201d he told me. \u201cSome opinions are more valuable,\u201d based on things like \u201cexpertise, perspective, writing skill, analytical skill and style.\u201d<\/p>\n I agree that I\u2019m more likely to listen to the recommendations of a reviewer whose experience I trust \u2014 who has the ability to put a book, movie, show or play in a cultural context with more than just their personal likes and dislikes. <\/p>\n Still, I have experienced gatekeeping as a critic, not because of what I did or didn\u2019t know \u2014 and I know a lot \u2014 but because it was assumed my knowledge was inadequate. <\/p>\n A college professor once said he\u2019d never heard of a Black female film critic, so I couldn\u2019t be one. Once I was a critic, some readers literally wrote demanding my credentials because, as one guy said, \u201cI saw your picture and thought \u2018What could she know about rock music?\u2019\u201d My editor made me delete the initial email I was about to send back to said reader.<\/p>\n There should absolutely be newer, diverse writers, schooled in every imaginable discipline, especially those that didn\u2019t exist a decade ago and in which they are uniquely skilled. But it can\u2019t just be an echo chamber of fan discussions whose worth is determined by the number of clicks.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat clicks don\u2019t measure is intent, story or devotion of feeling. They don\u2019t measure how important a particular thing is for the reader,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n Eyman did a lot of promotion, including about 40 podcasts, for 2023\u2019s \u201cCharlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex and Politics Collided.\u201d But unlike the AP, whose reach is wide and certain, he didn\u2019t know who was tuning in to hear him talk. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if anyone sees the podcasts,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to ascertain whether I\u2019m wasting my time or not. What scares me is that I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re [news outlets] looking for. They\u2019re throwing things against the wall, hoping that something sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n The popularity of books isn\u2019t going anywhere, even if some forms of traditional criticism are. Harris said just having this discussion about the AP\u2019s changes is positive. <\/p>\n \u201cThat this got all this reaction really did startle me and make me happy, to think this many people engage about book reviews,\u201d he said. \u201dThat\u2019s something good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Books are having a moment. 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