The Decline of Book Reviews and Enlightenment Values in Contemporary Publishing

Book reviewing has faced criticism since the 18th century, with complaints about harsh critiques in 1757 and bland praise noted by Rebecca West in 1914 and Elizabeth Hardwick in 1959. Today, Amazon controls over half the American book market, with user reviews overshadowing professional criticism. Mainstream review venues are shrinking, exemplified by the Washington Post losing its book section in February 2024, leaving the New York Times as the only major U.S. newspaper with a standalone weekly review. The New York Times' coverage favors famous authors and major publishers like Penguin Random House, which dominated its 2024 "ten best" list with eight titles. Online publications like the Los Angeles Review of Books struggle with algorithmic curation that limits discovery. The modern book review, born with Enlightenment values of open debate and accessibility, is in steep decline as those values fade.