I was a peculiar kid. By the time I was 10 years old, I couldn’t wait for Time magazine to arrive at my family’s house every week so I could flip to the back and read all the reviews of the latest movies, plays and books.
I don’t know why I was so riveted by the critical analysis of things I had no chance of ever seeing. Perhaps it was the insight it provided me into the mysteries of adult life.
This being the era of the sexual revolution, I vividly recall being transfixed by reviews for provocative films like “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” and “I Am Curious (Yellow).” When I finally saw those movies many years later, I was so disappointed. It was my first lesson in how art that speaks to the here and now doesn’t always hold up over time.
Fast forward to 1986, the beginning of my journalism career. Following the path of many a novice reporter in Atlanta, I started out covering city council meetings and zoning board hearings for the Marietta Daily Journal. But I quickly grew bored with the minutia of city government and ultimately found my niche as an arts editor. My childhood self was astonished to be paid to write reviews.
Then I joined the staff at Creative Loafing, where I managed a whole staff of critics, among them AJC contributor Felicia Feaster, who remains my all-time favorite film critic, and Bill Addison, now the Los Angeles Times food critic. Working at an alternative newspaper in the ‘90s was a glorious place for a culture junkie to be.
When I joined the AJC in 2006, I flitted about in a few different positions before I ended up back on familiar terrain in arts journalism. By then, though, the industry was in major flux. Full-time critics were being shed across the country as newspapers adjusted to a changing economy. The AJC was no different. It was too costly to justify paying a full-time book editor, a position previously held by the great Don O’Briant followed by the also great Teresa Weaver.
But the AJC never stopped covering books, and for the past 12 years or so, I have functioned as its book editor, among other duties. It has been a dream gig. Rarely a week has passed that I haven’t felt grateful for the opportunity. Especially gratifying has been the chance to work with brilliant critics such as Gina Webb, Jeff Calder and Leah Tyler.
I still adore reviews. There’s something so satisfying to me about the way they identify themes, provide context or draw attention to details that illuminate the creator’s intent. Whenever I see a movie or read a book that gets under my skin, the first thing I do is seek out the reviews to see what the critics say. Sometimes I disagree with their observations and sometimes they validate my own opinions — or better yet, expand on them. Either way, reading them makes me feel like I’m engaged in a smart dialogue.
Sadly, I’m in the minority these days. The traditional book review has gone the way of the full-time book editor. In this era of metrics that measure which articles resonate with readers, book reviews rank near the bottom.
Beginning Jan. 1, the AJC will cease producing its print edition and along with it, full-length book reviews in that format. But it will continue to write about books. So while this may be my last column in print, Bookshelf will continue to cover books online. I look forward to keeping the conversation going.
Suzanne Van Atten writes about books for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
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