Terry Pratchett

Rating:
Summary: A book only a fanatic would want to own
Review: I am not sure how to rate this book. It is a reference book so I can't hold it to the same standards as a work of fiction. Reference books should be rated on their usefulness and accuracy. Since it is mostly reviews, which are subjective, accuracy does not really apply and how useful can a book of literary criticism really be? That said this book does contain some information about Terry Pratchett's early work that I did not already know about, and I'm a fairly fanatical fan. The type and the margins are small, so all 88 pages of text are stuffed as full of words as they possible could be. You are definitely getting your money's worth. Andrew Butler does have a sense of humor, which is important since he is reviewing a humor writer, but some of his jokes may prove confusing to people who haven't read the books. Sarcasm and irony are hard to pull off in fiction; they are even harder in non-fiction. In general I found his criticisms irritating if you know what he is talking about and misleading if you don't. He gives each book a rating and admits "The purpose of this last is clearly to annoy people!" And it succeeds admirably.