Critical Notes

How polluted are online review sites with paid positive notices? The New York Times takes a look at one site that turned $28,000 a month that way; an expert estimates

The discussion about harsh reviews continues apace: On the heels of Jacob Silverman’s “Against Enthusiasm,” Dwight Garner writes “A Case for Critics Who Are Actually Critical” for the New York

Anne Morris reviews Vaddey Ratner’s novel In the Shadow of the Banyan for the Dallas Morning News. Gregg Barrios recalls the life and work of pioneering film critic Judith Crist,

At Slate, Jacob Silverman argues that online book culture risks making critics too nice; Ron Charles responds at the Washington Post’s Style Blog. Morris Dickstein discusses Gore Vidal, who died

Kick off the week with two Olympic-themed reviews: Craig Seligman on Chris Cleave’s novel Gold for Bloomberg, and Carolyn Kellogg on Leanne Shapton’s memoir, Swimming Studies, for the Los Angeles

“A literary prize is, at best, one way of drawing readers to a book that deserves more serious attention than it might have gotten without a prize.” In a two-part

Planning your fall reading and reviewing? The Millions has a comprehensive list of books coming out in the second half of 2012 and early in 2013. David Haglund reviews Sheila

Gregg Barrios remembers the life and work of the late Nora Ephron at the San Antonio Current. Britt Peterson surveys the landscape of cat mysteries in Slate. Stephen Burt profiles

Garth Risk Hallberg profiles Sergio De La Pava, author of the novel A Naked Singularity, for the Millions. Ron Charles reviews Mark Haddon’s novel The Red House for The Washington

Heller McAlpin reviews Mark Haddon’s novel The Red House for NPR.org. Craig Seligman reviews David Maraniss’ Barack Obama: The Story for Bloomberg. Steve Weinberg reviews William J. Cobb’s novel The