How to Find Literary Reviews and Criticisms
[Printable version]
There is a rather fine line between a review and criticism; although both can be extremely valuable when evaluating books (and other creative works, for that matter). A literary review, however, is typically written at the time of publication of the book, while a criticism will be published in later years. Another difference is a criticism provides a more in-depth analysis of a work so will most likely be longer in length and scholarly in focus. Adding to the confusion is the fact that in-depth book reviews are sometimes referred to as criticisms!
Reviews
Consult the Library's Article Databases ("Find Articles")
- Under ‘Literature’ – Literary Reference Center
- The easiest way to search is to enter the author’s name in one field and the title of
the work in another. Choose ‘book review’ under ‘Document Type’. (see example below). You can also limit results on the search screen by literary genre, type, name of characters, and more.
- The easiest way to search is to enter the author’s name in one field and the title of
- Under ‘General’ – Academic Search Premier or MasterFILE Premier
- These two databases are both offered by the publisher, EbscoHost so they have the same “look”. In the Find:boxes enter author’s name in TX All Text and title of work in TI Title. (see example below). Limit to Full Text, Peer Reviewed (if you are only looking for scholarly articles) and ‘Book Review’ under Document Type.
- Under ‘Reference – Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Enter title and author.
Consult the Library’s Newspaper Databases ("Find Articles").
- Under ‘Newspapers’, you can search ‘Proquest Newspapers’. by author and title.
Database description: Full-text coverage of The New York Times (1999-current), Wall Street Journal (1982-current), Christian Science Monitor (1988-current), Hartford Courant (1992-current), Los Angeles Times (1985-current), Washington Post (1987-current).
You can also search for reviews in The New York Times (1981-current) directly from their website. Click on ‘books’ in the left hand column and you will see a search box for reviews.
Search these Websites:
Criticisms
Find a book through the Library’s Online Catalog (Find Books).
Consult the Library’s Article Databases (Find Articles).
- Under ‘Literature’ – Literary Reference Center
- The easiest way to search is to enter the author’s name in one field and the title of
the work in another. Choose ‘literary criticism’ under ‘Document Type’ (see example below). On the left hand column of the results page, you can view the subjects (themes) within that work. You can also limit results on the search screen by literary genre, type, name of characters, and more.
- The easiest way to search is to enter the author’s name in one field and the title of
- Under ‘General’ – Academic Search Premier or MasterFILE Premier
- These databases are both offered by the publisher, EbscoHost so they have the same “look”. In the Find:boxes, enter author’s name in TX All Text and title of work in TI Title. (see example below). Limit to Full Text, Peer Reviewed (if you are only looking for scholarly articles) and ‘Literary Criticism’ under Document Type.
Visit Internet Public Library – this website “contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.”
Biographies
To supplement your findings of literary criticisms, you may want to search for biographical information. See Library Tip Sheet – "How to Find Biographical Information."
