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rachelcox's review
informative
medium-paced
0.25
When I was in graduate school, I obtained my copy of this book from a retiring professor who was giving books away to clear out his office. I'm glad I got this book for free because if I paid money for this, I would be furious. From the title, I was expecting this book to be an analysis of the subjectivity of film reviewing, but that is not what I got. This book is literally just a copy and pasted list of bad reviews of various films. There are seven chapters that group the reviews together according to seven themes, so there was some degree of thought that went into this book, but there isn't anything that the "authors" actually contribute. The introduction isn't even written by them! I can't in good faith refer to Sillick and McCormick as authors; they are editors. The only section that was worth reading to me was the first half of the six-page introduction by Ed Gorman, in which he discusses the affect that negative reviews have on artists. This is the only part I don't regret reading. Additionally, this book was published the year I was born, so I have neither seen nor heard of the majority of the films mentioned in this book. I'm sure this plays a part in why I disliked this book so much, as I'm not familiar with most the films and actors being referenced. Maybe if I knew exactly what this book was going to be before I read it, I wouldn't be so disappointed. And yes, I recognize the irony of me giving a negative review of a book mocking negative reviews, I honestly just don't care. I wish I spent the day reading something else.
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