Jared Diamond and Writing about Book-Length Nonfiction

At the academic anthropology blog, Savage Minds, this post, the first in a series, on Jared Diamond’s most recent book, is a nice example of how to write about complete books on the Internet, especially when you’ve got too much to say.  A lot of times I end up abandoning a piece, especially about a nonfiction book, because I’m not sure how to approach it.  In part, I worry about sounding too critical and writing a piece that ends up offputting.  In part, I think, my model for what writing about books should be has become something like Andrew Seal’s Blographia Literaria.  Seal, and the bloggers who wrote like him, always set each book in context with finality and authority, indicating its proper place in a larger discourse, apparently certain that they knew what was expected in the best literature-discussion circles.  But even if I felt competent to do the same, which I don’t, it wouldn’t really get at what I wanted to say about my reading.

Comments

[tomslee]

I have abandoned several such pieces myself: my own problem is finding it difficult to focus on an audience. Who, of all the possibilities, is going to drift by and start reading? I usually end up writing as if to myself before I read the book, which I guess is a normal approach.

I also find the finality/authority approach difficult to take, unless I am severely irritated by the book in which case it tends to come out harshly. My experience is that, if page views is the goal, ranting is the way to go (unfortunately).

One permission I have given myself -- and find I enjoy -- is to write an essay on and around the book, rather than limit myself to directly reviewing the book itself. No one, after all, is paying me.

Good luck with finding your own way.