A man Harriet Klausner would understand and like

Who is that handsome chap? Ah but of course, everyone knows it's professor Figes, who has recently decided to wade into the murky waters of Amazon review writing with such effect.

... The future of one of Britain's leading historians was looking increasingly uncertain tonight after he admitted that he was the author of anonymous reviews that praised his own work as "fascinating" and "uplifting" while rubbishing that of his rivals. ...

Harriet and Professor Figes have a lot in common, maybe they should go on a date, what do you think, Dear Reader?

Amazon Discussion Board: Closed to the Public?

Have you noticed that the Amazon Discussion Board now seems to require logging in even in order to read it? It used to be widely open; you needed to log in only if you wanted to post something. Why such an interesting change? One can't help wondering is some of the action by the house shills there ("not a requirement" and the like) was determined too open for the general reader... Here's one example.

Re: The Harriet Klausner Mythos

Just bumped into an interesting post, The Harriet Klausner Mythos:

Booksquare suggests that Amazon reviewer Harriet Klausner (profiled in today’s Wall Street Journal by Joanne Kaufman) isn’t exactly a discovery of such stunning new finds as Tess Gerritsen, pointing out that Gerritsen’s career kick-started several years before.

However, I’m curious why the Wall Street Journal didn’t make an effort to verify Klausner’s extraordinary claims. Kaufman only describes Klausner’s voice as “more than a few dips of helium,” but makes no reference to the geography of her home or Ms. Klausner’s appearance. I’m wondering if Kaufman even spoke with Ms. Klausner in person. After all, if Klausner has read over 8,000 books and reviewed them in a mere five years [today, another five years on, it's 21,490: Harriet's Amazon "lifetime" average is about six (6) books a day], wouldn’t it be worth a trip to Atlanta to observe just how she does it?

Comments

Pete on March 30th, 2005 7:24 am

Maybe Kaufman is practicing Jayson Blair’s “reporting from Brooklyn” method.

Indeed! I always felt the same way, Pete. Add in here another manufacturer of Klausner hype, someone Lev Grossman (affiliated in some way with the Time magazine; please refer to the "See No Evil" section on this page for a link to his important article).

Btw, it's been a long time since we visited our dear friend former topreviewer John Matlock "Gunny", who, after a long hiatus after his degrading from topreviewers in what 2007 or thereabouts, apparently resurrected and started shitting five-star reviews again. This past February this semi-literate impostor plopped down 52 five-star reviews, which is about two (2) books a day; check it out. As to the rest of our old friends, W.Boudville seems to have slowed down with no other changes -- as before his stuff comes in small hunks of disjointed bull with his trademark four stars all over.

E-mail

I'm sure you all get those solicitation e-mails from Amazon saying, "People who bought or rated books by..." also like books by...

In the last few months, I have started getting suggestions that have nothing to do with any books I've read or rated. I have not even heard of the authors or books they claim to be basing the recommendation on.

Anyone else notice a change? Until recently, the suggested books were based on books I'd purchased. Not anymore.

OT: The Do It Yourself Scholar

Entirely off topic: Here's a nice blog The Do It Yourself Scholar . I perused it only superficially so far, but it looks like it's interesting. Check it out, you might like it.

PS. Oh yeah, and Harriet went to 696 for a few days; then descended to 698. Perhaps voting on her reviews is re-enabled? Has anyone tried lately ?

Special Dispensation has been effective

Just a few days back we blogged about Klausner's apparent immunity to votes -- and just look how well this has already worked: she was then 706 and now she's 703. The brilliant intervention worked: Harriet's precipitous fall in ranks stopped and even reversed. All publisher shills giving her thumbs up all the time, she'll be back to No.1 in no time now.

Yet Another Question About HK

Is Our Dear Harriett immune not only from Amazon rules (and general accountability) but also from the latest FTC requirement?? In short, the FTC recently announced that reviewers must clearly state that they're getting free review copies (in whatever form) from the publishers. It makes sense. The FTC wants readers of reviews to be able to differentiate "I bought this book with my hard-earned cash and now that it's too late for me, here's what I think," from "I got this book from a publisher and, man, am I glad I didn't lay out my own money for it or I'd be even more ticked."

I've been reviewing for years. I started at a website and then went off on my own and started my own blog. Publishers and authors send me review copies all the time. It's noted at the top of my blog, on the front page, that my copies are provided by publishers. What is actually says is "Books provided by publishers and authors." It also says "Fashions By Dicker & Dicker of Beverly Hills" so sue me for having a sense of humor.

Just a random sampling of HK's many reviews posted lately show NO SIGN of this disclaimer. I think it's obvious to anyone with a functioning brain stem that she's not paying to purchase every copy of every book ever published. They're being provided to her, for free. Which is fine. But why is she immune to this rule, too? Or is she? Is this what will finally trip her up and get her faux-reviews banished? Or at least marked as 'not a paying customer review' on Amazon?

PS, because lots of people ask... No publisher or publicist or marketing person has EVER, EVER asked for a 'good' review. They ask if I'd like to review something. The content of the review is totally up to me. I've reviewed a few real stinkers, and said so, while keeping in mind how my Mom taught me to be polite while still being clear. And I've reviewed a few great things. Most books fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Great, bad, indifferent, I've never heard a single word of complaint about what is, in the end, my personal opinion about any given book. (I did have one author flip out on me and threaten to blacklist me for a mediocre review. I just forwarded her emails to the publicist who was sending out her books. I never heard another word from the author, and I still get every new release of hers, in hardcover, which I never review. Because I am that petty.)