The Ethics of Academic Book Reviewing
Recently, a book reviewer for Fafnir approached me with a problem. His first draft was vague and meandering, but that isn't necessarily unusual, as most of our reviews need revision. Still, this fellow was a good academic, and it turns out his first draft was messy for a reason. Namely, he was floundering on the ethics of critically reviewing a book whose politics he so ardently supported. Although there were criticisms that he considered valid concerning the book's structure, he didn't feel right about expressing them. I appreciated his reaching out to me. I'm a relatively chatty kind of editor, though of course many don't have the time. And the ethics of book reviewing is a real thing. My own viewpoint is slightly different from James Gifford's , who among other good advice nonetheless recommends Books that fulfill career requirements simply cannot be read the same way as those that come after tenure and therefore without the same material demands on the a