Oh dear . . .

I’m writing a book review for a newspaper . . . and it’s awful. Just dreadful. It’s the latest book by a well known, well regarded and quite fashionable writer and he’s just written the most dreadful book. I’m actually kind of stunned.

I hating writing negative reviews, because it can feel like you are being personally nasty about the writer. I have a growing appreciation for just how much people put themselves into their writing.

But, at the same time, the author’s publishing company have put the book into the firing line, because it is looking for publicity to help sell the book, I have a responsibility to the reader of the newspaper to be honest, balanced, accurate and fair in the review.

It would be a betrayal to write a nice review of a bad book and then have someone buy it and be disappointed as a result.

Still, I’ve just noticed the author lives in Dublin, despite being an international name. He populates his books with psychotic, drug-taking, violent, alcoholic lunatics, so hopefully I won’t run into him.