Reacting to the shuttering of Kirkus, which published in the neighborhood of 5,000 advance reviews annually, Mark Athitakis celebrates the “element of surprise” he profited from in writing for Kirkus:
“Kirkus assignments forced me out of my comfort zone; without Kirkus I wouldn’t have discovered Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone or Etgar Keret’s The Nimrod Flipout or Lionel Shriver’s The Post-Birthday World, to name just a few. I think every critic could stand to pick out a book at random every so often, just to test one’s prejudices; it’s a time-consuming exercise, but it helps give you clearer sense of your likes and dislikes. If I can’t have that experience as a reviewer, I’ll pursue it as a reader.&rdquordquo;
Media Bistro’s Jason Boog has a few early reactions in yesterday’s posting, while Leon Neyfakh, in the New York Observer, noted the more mixed reception among publishers and agents, including this zinger from ICM co-chair Esther Newberg:
“I'm sorry if some people have lost their jobs. I want to make that part very clear. But it's never been a publication worth anything. The reviews were almost always negative and not helpful in any way. And so that's it. Good riddance.”