Wilhelm Bush once said ==> Those who can't write, write critics <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />
Winterfox, I view this "vanity fair" in art (exhibitions) and writer circles day by day at my library (on both sides, creator and critic). That's why my boss has to drag me screaming, writhing and cussing to these "pleasures". In fact, he has nearly given up, because his "enfant terrible" has embarrassed him too often <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> (I just can't resist pricking overblown egos and watch them fizzing around like a defect air balloon <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> )
I need reviews to decide if I buy certain media or not - Thank God, librarians doing this job for other libraries and helping us in this way, are a bit more down-to-earth. Still, I need to read between the lines, instead of just following a recommendation. If I would blindly, we'd have nearly NO fantasy fiction at all, specially not the heroic epic one. I buy what my members want to read => and if they want Nora Roberts or Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rebecca Gable, Gabaldon, Star Wars Jedi quest series, Stephen King => so be it. And if books having won countless prizes dust in the shelf, I chuck it out after a few years or put it into our magazines, in case pupils need it for school lecture. Why? Because I buy with tax money and want to reach as many people as possible. It's not my job to educate and teach people what "good" literature is, I leave this up to intellectual critics - and amuse myself. Readers have their own rules, dislikes and preferences - as I have - and I prefer a self-confident reader making her/his own choice much more than those following recommendations.
Kiya
