49 review for Why Should I Cut Your Throat?: Excursions Into the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Drew – Jun 15, 2008

   This sadly inconsistent essay collection reflects little of the talent that makes VanderMeer's fiction so great. I picked it up in order to read the lengthy essay detailing the publication history of "City Of Saints And Madmen", and while I enjoyed that one a lot, it gave no real indication of quality from essay to essay throughout the rest of the book. Strangely, although the essays were pulled from around 15 years of VanderMeer's career, era in which each essay was written had no reflection on This sadly inconsistent essay collection reflects little of the talent that makes VanderMeer's fiction so great. I picked it up in order to read the lengthy essay detailing the publication history of "City Of Saints And Madmen", and while I enjoyed that one a lot, it gave no real indication of quality from essay to essay throughout the rest of the book. Strangely, although the essays were pulled from around 15 years of VanderMeer's career, era in which each essay was written had no reflection on the quality of the essays either. The first one in the book, a convention report from 1990, was the oldest, and it was deeply flawed, but some of the later writings in the book were just as flawed, while one of the few essays in which VanderMeer did display the talent I've seen in his fiction (an essay on the state of horror fiction in the mid-90s) was also one of the earliest essays collected here. The section of the book that I felt was weakest was the section in which he reviewed books. Perhaps this just has to do with my own tastes as a reader and reviewer, but I felt that he was way too quick to nitpick and turn negative, to write a bad review of something that he seemed not to have that big a problem with. It was as if something had to be transcendently excellent to get a good review out of him. I'm the sort of person that prefers to read good reviews of books/music/movies/whatever, so that I'm pointed towards things worth looking for. VanderMeer seems to be the type of reviewer who finds it far more enjoyable to pan books for their shortcomings, no matter how hard those shortcomings have to be hunted for. And I mean, he may be right (though the one book I'd read that he negatively reviewed, Iain M. Banks's "Look To Windward", is in my humble opinion far better than he makes it seem), but still, I don't know that I'd collect my negative reviews for an essay collection. On the whole, I'm not sorry that I read this book, I just wish it had been more consistent. Perhaps next time he publishes an essay collection, it will be, but considering that I didn't necessarily even like the most recent essays in this one, I have my doubts that that will be the case.

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Jason Lundberg –

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Kristen –

4. 

   4 out of 5

   Griflet –

5. 

   4 out of 5

   James Thompson –

6. 

   4 out of 5

   Mike Mclatchey –

7. 

   4 out of 5

   Kevin Parsons –

8. 

   5 out of 5

   Annie –

9. 

   5 out of 5

   OTIS –

10. 

    4 out of 5

    spooky blossom. –

11. 

    4 out of 5

    Josh Storey –

12. 

    5 out of 5

    Wendy –

13. 

    5 out of 5

    Teagan Carr –

14. 

    5 out of 5

    Aksel Dadswell –

15. 

    5 out of 5

    Rick –

16. 

    5 out of 5

    Darren Murr –

17. 

    4 out of 5

    Matt Staggs –

18. 

    5 out of 5

    Goetz –

19. 

    5 out of 5

    Michael –

20. 

    5 out of 5

    Martin –

21. 

    5 out of 5

    Etienne Beytebiere –

22. 

    5 out of 5

    Adam –

23. 

    4 out of 5

    Conor –

24. 

    4 out of 5

    Nikolas Robinson –

25. 

    4 out of 5

    John Kealy –

26. 

    4 out of 5

    Jason –

27. 

    5 out of 5

    Sureyya –

28. 

    4 out of 5

    Luís –

29. 

    5 out of 5

    Scott Firestone –

30. 

    4 out of 5

    David –

31. 

    5 out of 5

    Avanders –

32. 

    4 out of 5

    J.B. –

33. 

    5 out of 5

    FicusFan –

34. 

    4 out of 5

    Mike –

35. 

    4 out of 5

    Mark –

36. 

    4 out of 5

    Regan –

37. 

    4 out of 5

    Dale Prince –

38. 

    5 out of 5

    Nayad Monroe –

39. 

    4 out of 5

    Damndirtypandas –

40. 

    4 out of 5

    Andy –

41. 

    4 out of 5

    Jimmy Frohman –

42. 

    4 out of 5

    Christian Lindke –

43. 

    5 out of 5

    Elaine –

44. 

    5 out of 5

    David –

45. 

    4 out of 5

    Cat Rambo –

46. 

    4 out of 5

    tirretiipero –

47. 

    4 out of 5

    Cindy C –

48. 

    5 out of 5

    Krysta –

49. 

    4 out of 5

    Joseph-Daniel Peter Paul Abondius –