A book review needs to do two things: first, you need to provide sufficient coverage of the content of the book in question for potential readers to decide whether or not they should read the book. Second, you need to critically assess the book’s primary thesis, or theses, and the evidence used to support it/the. As you go through the steps outlined below, please consider these two crucial goals of your review – content overview and critical assessment.
Steps:
1.) Your review must include the title of the book in Chicago Style Format.
e.g. A review of: Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994). 328 pages, including notes, index, and illustrations.
2.) Your coverage for the book should be approximately 2-3 typed, double spaced pages.
3.) You will have only 5-8 paragraphs in which to describe and assess the content of the book. In your first paragraph you should provide the reader with a clear sense of the broad scope of the book.
4.) In the next two paragraphs you should provide fuller, more detailed coverage of the content of the book. You might decide to focus on just two or three book chapters or mightprovide coverage of most of the book’s major topics. However, you decide to construct these paragraphs summarizing the content of the book, be sure that a reader knows from your summary whether or not to read this book.
5.) In the next or next few paragraphs you should assess the argument/s of the book and comment on the evidence provided in support of it/them. Are you convinced by what the author has to say? Has the author effectively supported his/her arguments with appropriate evidence and/or logical reasoning? What topics, issues, or themes has the author left out that might lead us to different conclusions or interpretations.
6.) In your final paragraph(s) you should provide a strong summary of the book’s merits and shortcomings. Who would want to read this book? Is it an important book? Do you recommend it highly, only lukewarmly, or not at all? Could the book have been any stronger and more effective; and if so, how?
7.) In the course of your review be sure to provide a few poignant quotations that help illustrate the author’s perspective or key arguments. Do not quote excessively and avoid long block quotations.
