Writing Book Reviews Depending on your book’s purpose, you should select

appropriate criteria by which to judge its success. Use

This guide online: go.iu.edu/3LXd any criteria your instructor has given you in lecture or
on your assignment sheet. Otherwise, here are some
1. About criteria to consider.
A book review tells not only what a book is about,
but also how successfully the book explains itself. For example, if an author says his or her purpose is
Professors often assign book reviews as practice in to argue for a particular solution to a public problem,
careful, analytical reading. then the review should judge whether the author has
defined the problem, identified causes, planned points
As a reviewer, you bring together the two strands of attack, provided necessary background information,
of accurate, analytical reading and strong, personal and offered specific solutions. A review should also
response when you indicate what the book is about indicate the author’s professional expertise.
and what it might mean to a reader (by explaining
what it meant to you). In other words, reviewers In other books, however, the authors may argue
answer not only the what but the so what question for their theory about a particular phenomenon.
about a book. Thus, in writing a review, you combine Reviews of these books should evaluate what kind of
the skills of describing what is on the page, analyzing theory the book is arguing for, how much and what
how the book tried to achieve its purpose, and kind of evidence the author uses to support his or
expressing your own reactions. her scholarly claims, how valid the evidence seems,
how expert the author is, and how much the book
2. Reading the Book contributes to the knowledge of the field.
As you are reading or preparing to write the review, ask
yourself these questions: 3. Writing the Book Review

What are the author’s viewpoint and purpose? Book reviews generally include the following kinds
Are they appropriate? The viewpoint or purpose may of information; keep in mind, though, that you may
be implied rather than stated, but often a good place need to include other information to explain your
to look for what the author says about his or her assessment of a book.
purpose and viewpoint is the introduction or preface.
Most reviews start off with a heading that includes all
What are the author’s main points? the bibliographic information about the book. If your
Again, these will often be stated in the introduction. assignment sheet does not indicate which form you
should use, you can use the following:
What kind of evidence does the author use to prove
his or her points? Title.
Title.Author.
Author.Place of publication:
Place publisher,
of publication: date of publication.
publisher, date of
Is the evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does the Number of pages.
publication. Number of pages.
author support his or her points adequately?
Like most pieces of writing, the review itself usually
How does this book relate to other books on the begins with an introduction that lets your readers
same topic? know what the review will say. The first paragraph
Is the book unique? Does it add new information? usually includes the author and title again, so your
What group of readers, if any, would find this book readers don’t have to look up to find this information.
most useful? You should also include a very brief overview of the
contents of the book, the purpose or audience for the
Does the author have the necessary expertise to book, and your reaction and evaluation.
write the book?
What credentials or background does the author have You should then move into a section of background
that qualify him or her to write the book? Has the information that helps place the book in context and
author written other books or papers on this topic? discusses criteria for judging the book.
Do others in this field consider this author to be an
expert? Next, you should give a summary of the main points of
the book, quoting and paraphrasing key phrases from
What are the most appropriate criteria by which to the author.
judge the book? How successful do you think the
author was in carrying out the overall purposes of Finally, you get to the heart of your review—your
the book? evaluation of the book. In this section, you might
discuss some of the following issues:
• how well the book has achieved its goal For the novice there is much to be learned here . . . .
• what possibilities are suggested by the book
• what the book has left out But the book stops short of where it should ideally
• how the book compares to others on the subject begin. In many ways, “Guiding Light” was simply
• what specific points are not convincing the wrong soap to study. First broadcast in 1937,
• what personal experiences you’ve had related to “Guiding Light” is the oldest soap opera in the United
the subject. States, owned and produced by Procter and Gamble,
which sells it to CBS. It is therefore the perfect soap
It is important to use labels to carefully distinguish to study for a history of the changing daytime serial.
your views from the author’s, so that you don’t But that is not Intintoli’s project . . . .
confuse your reader. Taking Soaps Seriously is a good introduction to
the production of the daily soap opera. It analyzes
Then, like other essays, you can end with a direct soap conventions, reveals the hierarchy of soap
comment on the book, and tie together issues raised production, and describes a slice of the corporate
in the review in a conclusion. production of mass culture.
Regrettably, it reads like an unrevised dissertation
There is, of course, no set formula, but a general rule and misses an important opportunity to probe
of thumb is that the first one-half to two-thirds of the changing nature of soap production and the
the review should summarize the author’s main unarticulated ideological framework in which soaps
ideas and at least one-third should evaluate the are created.
book. Check with your instructor.
5. Polishing the Book Review
4. Example After you’ve completed your review, be sure to
Below is a review of Taking Soaps Seriously by Michael proofread it carefully for errors and typos. Double-
Intintoli, written by Ruth Rosen in the Journal of check your bibliographic heading—author, title,
Communication. Note that Rosen begins with a context publisher—for accuracy and correct spelling as well.
for Intintoli’s book, showing how it is different from
other books about soap operas. She finds a strength in
the kind of details that his methodology enables him
to see. However, she disagrees with his choice of case
study. All in all, Rosen finds Intintoli’s book most useful
for novices, but not one that advances our ability to
critique soap operas very much.

Taking Soaps Seriously: The World of Guiding Light.

Michael Intintoli. New York: Praeger, 1984. 248 pp.

Ever since the U.S. public began listening to radio

soaps in the 1930s, cultural critics have explored the
content, form, and popularity of daytime serials.
Today, media critics take a variety of approaches.
Some explore audience response and find that,
depending on sex, race, or even nationality, people
“decode” the same story in different ways. Others
regard soaps as a kind of subversive form of popular
culture that supports women’s deepest grievances.
Still others view the soap as a “text” and attempt to
“deconstruct” it, much as a literary critic dissects For free help at any stage of the writing process,
a work of literature. Michael Intintoli’s project is contact us at the following address:
somewhat different. For him, the soap is a cultural
product mediated and created by corporate Writing Tutorial Services
interests. It is the production of soaps, then, that is at Wells Library Information Commons
the center of his Taking Soaps Seriously. Indiana University
Phone: (812) 855-6738
To understand the creation of soap operas, Intintoli
adopted an ethnographic methodology that required Website: go.iu.edu/3LYk
a rather long siege on the set of “Guiding Light.” Support WTS: go.iu.edu/3LYl
Like a good anthropologist, he picked up a great
deal about the concerns and problems that drive the See our website for more writing guides, hours, times,
production of a daily soap opera. and locations.