Candy-coated critiques

A reader named Amy, having read my recent comments about The Believer magazine’s abolition of negative reviews, writes:

you might be amused by the comment in the most recent edition of the Powells’ Bookstore newsletter:

In the interest of good literary citizenship, we fully endorse the kinder, gentler book review policy promoted by the likes of the Believer. Thus, we respectfully wish to have the following phrases removed from any and all book reviews published within the past few weeks — “maudlin,””cringe-inducing,” “prematurely inflated,” “clunky,” “pretentious,” and “flimsy” — to be replaced instead with pieces of hard candy. We think that will make everyone much happier.


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