Taking readers behind the scenes in the world of fiction reviewing, Inside the Critics’ Circle explores the ways critics evaluate books despite the inherent subjectivity involved and the uncertainties of reviewing when seemingly anyone can be a reviewer. Drawing on interviews with critics from such venues as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, Phillipa Chong delves into the complexities of the review-writing process, including the considerations, values, and cultural and personal anxieties that shape what critics do.
Chong explores how critics are paired with review assignments, why they accept these time-consuming projects, how they view their own qualifications for reviewing certain books, and the criteria they employ when making literary judgments. She discovers that while their readers are of concern to reviewers, they are especially worried about authors on the receiving end of reviews. As these are most likely peers who will be returning similar favors in the future, critics’ fears and frustrations factor into their willingness or reluctance to write negative reviews.
At a time when traditional review opportunities are dwindling while other forms of reviewing thrive, book reviewing as a professional practice is being brought into question. Inside the Critics’ Circle offers readers a revealing look into critics’ responses to these massive transitions and how, through their efforts, literary values get made.
"The country’s newspaper book review pages evaporated in the 21st century. . . . Those of us who remain occupy one of the most tenuous positions in an extraordinarily tenuous industry. That seems to be what attracted the attention of Phillipa K. Chong, a sociology professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. . . . Chong offers rare insight."—Ron Charles, Washington Post Book Club
"Phillipa Chong’s precise, insightful and fascinating book focuses on journalist critics of fiction who write with an eye to newsworthiness as well as literary value, rather than academics."—Robert Eaglestone, Times Higher Education
"[An] exploration of how books get reviewed, what the consequences are, and whether any of it means anything at all. . . . Chong works diligently through the review process. . . . Useful reading for book critics and journalists who cover books."—Kirkus Reviews
"Inside the Critics’ Circle allows academics the opportunity to reflect on how they enact their own roles as reviewers and provides valuable contributions to the sociology of culture, economic sociology, and the sociology of knowledge. . . . Sociologists who study cultural fields and valuation will refer to and cite this book for years to come."—Hannah Wohl, American Journal of Sociology
"[A] deep dive into the inner workings of journalistic book criticism in ‘the Anglophone publishing field,’ and a must-read for critics and editors alike. . . . Impressively, Chong has managed in this study through substantial empirical data to draw a clear, detailed, and nuanced picture of a rather tricky profession."—Dana Hansen, Hamilton Review of Books
"Inside the Critics' Circle is an interesting inside look at the current state of (fiction) book reviewing in the United States, specifically as perceived by (presumably) significant actors in the field."—M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
"I perceived a book review — still perceive it, most days — as an avocation that’s as much private as it is public. . . . This public-private feeling is a common one, according to Phillipa K. Chong’s academic but engaging analysis of book reviewing, Inside the Critics’ Circle. An assistant professor of sociology at McMaster University, Chong endeavored to put some scientific rigor around the motivations of fiction reviewers by interviewing 40 of them, a random sample drawn from more than 1,000 bylines that had appeared in one of three major (but unnamed) national newspapers. What she uncovered is a lack of sense of purpose that’s distinct from criticism in other disciplines."—Mark Athitakis, On the Seawall
"An insightful account of inner workings of writing and publishing book reviews. . . . Chong has the knack of presenting . . . ideas in an interesting manner with her sharp wit and clarity of thoughts."—Mohammad Farhan, The Hindu
"Inside the Critics’ Circle is first-rate academic research. . . . [This] is no small feat and constitutes a major victory for Phillipa K. Chong."—Dimitris Passas, TapTheLine Magazine
"Filled with acumen and understanding, Inside the Critics’ Circle carefully dissects the reviewing process, a subject that academics and the reading class will find fascinating, relevant, and disturbing. The book’s theoretical claims rest on solid empirical foundations and I applaud its topic and research."—Wendy Griswold, Northwestern University
"This is the most sophisticated account of the evaluative work of cultural intermediaries to date. In this must-read book, Phillipa Chong shows how reviewers calibrate their judgments to attempt to mitigate various forms of uncertainty, but in so doing, manage to reproduce hierarchies of privilege and inequality in the cultural field."—Omar Lizardo, University of California, Los Angeles
"Appealing and informative, Inside the Critics’ Circle offers an empirically based portrait of book reviewing from the perspective of reviewers. It will satisfy the curiosity of readers who want to know about how book review editors pick reviewers, how reviewers accomplish their task, whether and how reviewers perceive their work as fair, and far more."—Michèle Lamont, Harvard University
"In Inside the Critics’ Circle, Phillipa Chong immerses herself in the fluid and uncertain freelance world of newspaper-based book reviewing, where reviewer-writers adhere to the informal norms of playing nice, punching up the status hierarchy of authors. This book will interest academicians and practitioners in the sociology of culture and work, communications, media studies, and journalism, and freelance tastemakers whose reviews of consumer goods appear in print, broadcast, and online media."—Daniel B. Cornfield, Vanderbilt University
