Gilbert Wesley Purdy has been reviewing books and other items on the Internet and in paper venues for several years now. As regards books, he reviews both poetry and topical non-fiction prose. Should the texts be translations from a romance language, and the original texts be available to him, he may also choose to review the quality of the translation.
At present, he is a regular reviewer for the online journal
Eclectica. His reviews also appear at
Jacket Magazine,
The Georgia Review,
Rattle,
The Compulsive Reader, and his own
Virtual Grub Street family of blogs (
Biscayne Bay Review and Reviews, Revistas, Riviste). Links to his online reviews (and other work in poetry and prose) are posted at his
Online Bibliography. The Bibliography is regularly updated.
He receives more titles than he can possibly review, generally direct from the publisher. The books (tapes, CDs, DVDs) are placed in a queue ordered more or less by the following criteria:
- Books/items accepted on assignment;
- Books/items that are in some way exceptional;
- Books/items that will generally be positively reviewed;
- Books/items from larger publishers;
- Books/items from publishers with whom he has an ongoing reviewer relationship;
- Books/items that touch on a theme or issue that seems especially worth comment even if that comment is mixed or negative in tone.
A book/item may remain in the queue for more than a year before it is reviewed or removed as "not accepted for review".
While he rarely pans a book/item, it is not altogether unheard of. The only representation he makes is that, if he should review a book/item, he will do so with the utmost honesty he can muster. Only rarely will there appear direct encouragement to buy a book/item. The reviews are intended to be descriptive and to leave the reader to decide, based upon the description, whether the book/item is for him or her.
Assignments are acccepted on a case-by-case basis. Query to
gwpurdy@yahoo.com. Send books or other items for review to:
Gilbert Wesley Purdy
464 NE 16th St.
Miami, FL 33132-1222
Contact information should be included. An e-mail contact address is greatly preferred. Related requests that require postage and/or handling (i.e. returns, correspondence other than tear-sheets) will generally not be fulfilled unless postage and materials are provided with the request and perhaps not even then.
Labels: Book Reviews
