A Poignant And Compelling Post

In the Times, Ben McIntyre writes a wince-inducing piece on the language book reviewers use, and what it really means. A sample:

Wears its scholarship lightly. Author is not a real scholar. But I am.

Imaginative. Fiction reviewers use this to describe a book that they wish they had written; nonfiction reviewers use it to describe a book they do not believe.

Compelling. I managed to finish it.

Painfully funny / sad / poignant / long. Demonstrates the deep sensitivity of the reviewer. A health warning also attaches to any book described as achingly, eye-wateringly or heart-stoppingly anything.