Ron Charles, Washington Post book critic as well as everyone’s favorite Totally Hip Video Book Reviewer, reports that he was disappointed to learn he had not won The Hatchet Job of the Year Award, given by The Omnivore for “the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review of the past twelve months.”
by Josh Trapani
Ron Charles, Washington Post book critic as well as everyone’s favorite Totally Hip Video Book Reviewer, reports that he was disappointed to learn he had not won The Hatchet Job of the Year Award, given by The Omnivore for “the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review of the past twelve months.” (Hey, did I use enough hyperlinks in that last sentence, or should I have jammed in a few more?)
Check out the Hatchet Job site, or this Salon piece, to see all the nominees. You may also wish to check out this interview by Laura Miller with critic Daniel Mendelsohn, a great discussion about reviewing books that also includes mention of a couple of scathing reviews in The New York Times that didn’t make the Hatchet Job list.
Here at the Independent, we leave a lot to the discretion of our (more than 200) reviewers, and we are certainly not here simply to be a cheer-leading squad. But we also expect criticism to be responsible. Most of all, we try to ensure that our reviews are about the book, not about the reviewer.
Do you love reading blistering reviews? Or do they make you wince? Let me know.
Also feel free to offer your condolences to Mr. Charles, who missed out not just on the notoriety of winning, but also on the prize: a year’s supply of “potted shrimp,” whatever-in-the-heck those are.
