There are dangers associated with an anonymous venue, not least that all the helicon fizz will be spiked with teeny testosterone; and of course it would be better if there were lots of people standing by their word. But hardly anyone seems prepared to do it. The great majority of small press books have for years slipped into the back catalogues without any reaction in print. We have a feeling that there are reasons for this besides embarrassment, laziness and the angles and exigencies of friendship. We think one of the reasons is that review culture simply isn't very interesting. Nothing much is at stake. Reviews are sporadic, disconnected, largely predictable, and they don't generate sales. They take the place of the books they're intended to serve, as a kind of proxy or virtual consumption. What we think could work is a forum where people could post serious, uninhibited mini-reviews on a regular basis, without allowing critical thought to be stifled by courtesy; and where other contributors could then respond and argue, helping to generate a context for future discussion of an author's work.
YOU TOO can write poetry reviews for On Company Time. Simply log into either of these email accounts - oncomptime[at]gmail[dot]com or oncomptime[at]hotmail[dot]com (passwords: lebanon) - and send the stuff to the editors at oncompanytime[at]gmail[dot]com. Don't include your real name or everyone will know who you are. If you happen to want everyone to know who you are, then use your REAL name. But if you don't and can't think of a pseudonym, try one or several of these popular models: "xxx-xx-xxxx", "Daunting Plant-Stem", "Francis Puke-0-Rama", "L'Autre Mont", or "Murphy's Oiled Rope".
Sincerely,
The Editors
