Book Reviews and Book Reviewers

Dear Michelle,
Your comments about reviewers are harsh indeed! And yet, clearly, your feelings are shared by many other authors. A recent piece (4/27/08) in the New York Times Book Review by Leon Wieseltier critiquing Martin Amis has drawn much commentary…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Wieseltier-t.html?_r=1&ei=5090&en=1877d09dd77c7181&ex=1367121600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
… and just last week Jonathan Franzen was quoted in the Harvard Crimson disparaging reviewers and saying:
“The reviews tend to be repetitive and tend to be so filled with error that they’re kind of unbearable to read, even the nice ones,” Franzen said. “The most upsetting thing nowadays is the feeling that there’s no one out there responding intelligently to the text,” he said. “So few people are actually doing serious criticism. It’s so snarky, it’s so ad hominum, it’s so black and white.” “The stupidest person in New York City is currently the lead reviewer of fiction for the New York Times,” he added, referring to controversial, Pulitzer-Prize winning reviewer Michiko Kakutani.
[as quoted in The Harvard Crimson]
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523349
At the same time, publishers are so eager to get reviews, as they can really help book sales (even negative reviews are often helpful!), and they complain that the number of review venues is dwindling.
And finally, I remember a great story I read in the Times years ago about an author whose book had just been published and received a stellar review in a major paper. Encountering the author at a cocktail party, someone said to him: “Congratulations on the good review!” to which he responded (haughtily, no doubt): “I didn’t write the review!”
So what can be done to improve the state of reviewing today? Any further comments on reviews and reviewers and/or advice for authors and publishers regarding reviews?
Thanks!
Lynn