9/17/2009

An observation about Amazon reviewers

This has sort of been addressed before by several different people, and is a well-known enough phenomenon that it even gets its own blog, but just every now and then I come across some review of a book on Amazon so awe-inspiringly idiotic that I can't make up my mind if the 'reviewer' was serious, or instead engaging in some kind of desperately obscure and impenetrable sarcasm, as if the ghost of Andy Kaufman was somehow wandering the electronic byways of online bookstores, pulling pranks for the sole benefit of itself and a cadre of undead snickering through their see-through sleeves.

In this case, I took a look at the Amazon.com page for a book called Eternity: Our Next Billion Years only to find this jaw-dropping review by someone who hasn't actually read the book. Apparently. Unless, of course, this is a very, very, very obscure piece of piss-taking. It wins my Occasional 'You, Sir, Are An Idiot' Award, handed out by me, to no regular schedule whatsoever.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, the reviewer IS American...

Anonymous said...

One of my newest hobbies is reading the comments on John Clute's reviews over at Sci Fi Wire. Strawberries for pigs, as some might say.

Maarten said...

Hi Garry,

I alway's read the reviews on http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com, (Pat's Hotlist) they're good/serious.
He also has great giveaways like a set of your books (Stealing Light an Nova War)and I'm one of the 3 lucky guys who won a set. Don't know if they will be send by Patrick, the editor or you personally. Can't wait to receive them because they aren't (yet9 available in Italy.

Ciao,

Maarten

maarten.bouwman(at)ets.eni.it

Gary Gibson, science fiction writer said...

Nice one Maarten. I didn't even know about that. They'd be sent by him, I believe.