From the shortest and most deadly review of just a few words, such as ‘can’t sing, can’t act, can dance a little’ to a considered piece of long-form journalism, arts criticism has an important place in our cultural life. Promoting debate, encouraging comparisons, boosting sales and even occasionally giving rise to a lawsuit, criticism is an art and a discipline in itself.
A good review is both an intellectual and emotional response to the work. It’s not so much about ‘do I like it’, but more ‘is this a good example of the genre; does it have the qualities of excellence and originality?’ and similar critical questions.
