Harriet Klausner
Harriet Klausner is a reviewer of books. She was the #1 ranked reviewer on Amazon.com until October 24, 2008 when the company began a new ranking system. On December 8, 2011, Amazon removed the "Classic Reviewer Ranking" and Klausner is no longer a Top Ranked Reviewer.[1]
According to her self-reported online profiles, Harriet grew up in the Bronx and her father was an employee of McGraw-Hill. [2] She reports being a former librarian with a master's degree in library science[2] who is proficient in speed-reading. Klausner professes in her online profiles to read two books a day, [3] [4] but a profile of her in Time in 2007 reports that she reads four to six books per day. [5] This Time Magazine article named Klausner in its top 15 list of the “web generation's movers and shakers."[5] Per an interview published in The Wall Street Journal in 2005, she states that her goal for reviewing is to bring attention to "lesser-known" authors who "don't have a publicity machine behind them. That's the whole purpose of my doing this on Amazon."[2]
As well as posting many reviews on the Amazon website, Klausner also posts reviews on several other websites such as Barnes & Noble, [6] Books 'n' Bytes, [7] SFF Net, [8] online magazine Of Ages Past, [9] and SF Site.[10]
Klausner has been criticized by those who question whether she actually reads the books she reviews. [3] They contend that her reviews are always positive in an effort to garner approval from review sites and publishers, [11] contain numerous errors in spelling and grammar and plot points, and are limited to plot synopses, and point out that she must be reading more books than the two per day she claims to read, [12] or that she may be posting reviews written by others.[13][3]. Further evidence that her readings may be cursory or incomplete includes her review of John Birmingham's book 'Designated Targets,' which neglects to mention that one of the book's characters is named Harriet Klausner http://www.amazon.com/review/R3I6H2ALW2CX7Z/ref=cm_cr_rev_detmd_pl?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2LW1DDUCLP0MS&cdMsgNo=1&cdPage=1&asin=0345457145&store=books&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx2C6DV686L7UQ&cdMsgID=Mx19XWBPV75HBB5#Mx19XWBPV75HBB5
[edit] References
- ^ Harriet Klausner profile on Amazon.com
- ^ a b c JOANNE KAUFMAN (March 29, 2005). "A Novel Heroine". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071016170653/http://opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006483.
- ^ a b c VICK MICKUNAS (March 29, 2007). "The Mysterious Harriet Klausner". http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/booknook/entries/2007/03/29/the_mysterious_harriet_klausne.html.
- ^ "Harriet Klausner's profile". http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AFVQZQ8PW0L. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ a b Lev Grossman (December 16, 2006). "Harriet Klausner". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570726,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ http://my.barnesandnoble.com/harstan-profile/
- ^ Harriet Klausner. "Books 'n' Bytes Contributors: Harriet Klausner". Books 'n' Bytes. http://www.booksnbytes.com/contributors/harriet_klausner.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ "Harriet Klausner Reviews". sff.net. http://www.sff.net/people/harriet/. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ "Book Reviews". Of Ages Past. http://www.angelfire.com/il/oaparchives/archivesreviews.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Harriet Klausner (2001). "The SF Site Featured Review: Arslan". http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ars108.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Various (October 8, 2007). "Harriet Klausner's Review of The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis". http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HGQJPLHDEA2X/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt/002-6624624-0408065?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1932961410.
- ^ "Here's a shocker... (The Klausner Post)". SF Signal. September 29, 2003. http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2003/09/heres-a-shocker-the-klausner-post/. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
