adjectives arise

Start a review of a book of poems by listing all the adjectives that come to mind while reading the book.

inflated till it pops

His reviews were inflated blurbs, to the point that reading to the end of one you began to wince, sure it was about to burst in your face.

bridge too far

He wanted to review poetry books but couldn’t imagine reading a bad one to the last line.

epigram for one book

The time I took
to make this book,
being both debut
and long review.

unable to suffer further

The critic had wanted to write a scathing review but, being a person of character, he was unable to do so—realizing he’d closed the book only a few pages in.

wrong blocks

After Harry Thurston Peck, editor of The Bookman, had reviewed Robinson's first collection, finding the author's "humor is of a grim sort, and the world is not beautiful to him, but a prison house."

[Robinson responded in the letter to Peck.] "I'm sorry to learn that I have painted myself in such lugubrious colors..." [Going on to say:]

“The world is not a prison house, but a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of of bewildered infants are trying to spell God with the wrong blocks.”

―Edwin Arlington Robinson, quoted in Edward Arlington Robinson: A Poet's Life, by Scott Donaldson.

not so bad really

She wrote not a review but an excuse for the poetry.

short shrift

Not a review, but a nod of notice. (The problem with microreviews is if they’re positive they’re indistinguishable from blurbs.)

unread and not ready

Too much speaking about poetry without due study.

earned bona fides

Critics certify themselves review by review.

show me your papers

Be ready to inspect the critic’s credentials at the border (before the review).

big thing in a small place

A big exuberant review in a small obscure journal.

quote freely

I distrust a review that quotes too sparingly from the book. I know ‘fair use’ is an issue, but the reviewer should err on the side of overly ‘free use’.

reader perogative

If we had more spontaneous reading we’d need less obligatory reviewing.