why bother with the NYT Book Review...
...when you can read Ed Champion's review of the reviews?
He poses the question:
Will this week's NYTBR reflect today's literary and publishing climate? Or will editor Sam Tanenhaus demonstrate yet again that the NYTBR is irrelevant to today's needs? If the former, a tasty brownie will be sent to Mr. Tanenhaus' office. If the latter, the brownie will be denied.Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) Sam flunks every test, the column-inch test, the hard-on test, the quirky-pairing test, etc, and must do without brownies, yet again.
An answer to my own question: I find the Sam Tannenhaus Brownie Watch far more interesting and amusing than the NYTBR. Beyond that, it includes, in suitably abbreviated form, the basics of the major reviews. So my conclusion is this: Ed should keep all the brownies for himself, and the NYTBR should bow out gracefully and allow him to take over.