Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web (Vintage Original) (Paperback)

~ Sarah Boxer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With this collection of 27 blogs culled from disparate corners of the Internet, Boxer, who writes for the New York Times, attempts to impose some kind of fixed order on a form that generally relies on the satisfaction of timely updates. For many blog-savvy readers, this collection would appear to have all the appeal of a new MP3 converted into 8-track format, but much of the writing contained in the book is well worth browsing for even the most hardened Web aficionado. The highlights in book format, predictably, are the blogs that maintain relatively tight spelling and grammar standards and focus on subjects beyond the writer's petty complaints. Benjamin Zimmer's Language Log reads like a wonderfully expansive and more self-aware William Safire column, while Sean Carroll's Cosmic Variance manages to be wryly humorous even while discussing theoretical physics at the Ph.D. level. Ringers like Alex Ross of the New Yorker and Matthew Yglesias of the Atlantic Monthly hardly seem like fair choices to demonstrate the democratization of the Web, but their blogs, on music and classical politics, respectively, are must-reads. Other, less conventional highlights include the neocon-spoofing comic Get Your War On, the ruminative expat diary How to Learn Swedish in 1000 Difficult Lessons and the cheerfully hyperactive idea stockpile Ironic Sans. (Feb.)
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Review

“Winning. . . Bold. . . . Provides a rousing awareness that many people, in many places, are thinking, feeling, and eager to connect.”
—The New Republic

“Aptly eclectic. . . . Ultimate Blogs does exactly what it’s supposed to do.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Eclectic anthology of superb writing.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Turning a book nerd into a blog fiend can prove to be as difficult a transition as turning a blogger into an author. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible — quite the opposite, particularly given the overall curatorial tone Boxer displays here. Celebrated on paper and ink, protected from the snark, the fawning, the bitchiness, the link whoring, and the exhausting self-referential attacks, the Internet in Ultimate Blogs is cherished in a wide-eyed, doting manner that even the most popular bloggers don’t seem to enjoy very much anymore.”
—The Boston Phoenix

“Most of Boxer’s selections don’t read like a new species of writing, but like very close cousins of once-venerable print genres that have been forced out of public discourse by the shrinkage of major American media: passionate arts criticism, critical theory, colorful polemics, and, above all, the personal essay.”
—New York Magazine

“A provocative introduction to the art form.”
—Baltimore Sun

“One way to find blogs worth reading . . . . [A] Norton Anthology of Blogging.”
—The New York Times

“Here you'll find excerpts from 27 online journals-comprising punditry, poetry, ranting, raving and drawing of both pictures and conclusions. You'll also find some wonderful writing; you'll laugh, cry and scratch your head. . . .Boxer has gone out of her way to seek out content that can make the leap from one me... --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307278069
• ISBN-13: 978-0307278067
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good info for those new to blogging, April 12, 2008

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Sharron Stockhausen

While this book may appeal to those who don't have time to sift through cyberspace looking for intelligent or even cohesive commentary in blogs, it doesn't quite deliver on its promise to point out the ultimate in blogs. As a writer for the New York Times, Boxer gives a valiant effort in taming the Wild West mentality the permeates many blog writers, but such effort is better suited to the lifespan of a periodical than the lifespan of a book. My point is underscored by the fact that one of her ultimate blogs, "El Guapo in DC," posted its last entry on August 7, 2007, a full six months before this book's publish date.

Another problem with this book is it doesn't seem to know who its audience is. Boxer may have had a tough time figuring this out by virtue of blogging being so new that it still doesn't know who it appeals to. Boxer offers something for the uninitiated with her general statements, but she risks turning off blogging fans, many of whom already have their own ideas about which blogs qualify as ultimate.

Since this book comes in the print medium, hyperlinks don't work, nor do time-sensitive entries. That precludes Boxer from including blogs on politics and those that rely on links to video or other content. There are pages and pages of graphics, most of which are not very satisfying to see reproduced in black and white on photocopy paper weight stock. Given the unappealing cover design, it follows that the interior should be unappealing as well.

That leaves the writing to serve as the stand-out feature for this book, but Boxer cannot be blamed for the writing, as she is the editor, not the author. Few bloggers are known for their writing style. It's their ability to be publicly snarky, even reckless, while keeping their identity private, that provides them the opportunity to be either brilliant or sophomoric.

If you're looking for a one-stop place to get familiar with blogs, this book serves that purpose, but it doesn't offer much for those who've already discovered blogs.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate Blogs: a video review, February 19, 2008

By	Kevin Hodgson "Kevin H." (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Length:: 1:37 Mins

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Ultimate Blogs, February 19, 2008

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

With 15 million active blogs to choose from, Sarah Boxer has picked 27 genuinely interesting examples. She brings a generalist's curiosity to the task, and has clearly read thousands of blogs to come up with this set. She is an intelligent, interesting friend, handing you links to outstanding bloggers, and explaining why you might like them.

(I've noticed that reviewers are already adding examples -- WNYC listeners have already added several examples in their discussion of yesterday's show.)

Boxer asks an interesting question: is there such a thing as blogger art form. She points out that a "growing stack of books has pondered the effects of blogs and bloggers on culture (We've Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture), on democracy (Blogwars: The New Political Battleground), on privacy (The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet] and We're All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age), on professionalism (The Cult of the Amateur: How blogs, MySpace, YouTube, and the rest of today's user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture, and our values), on business (Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers), and on all of the above ("Blog!").

But what about the effect of blogs on language? "Are they a new literary genre? Do they have their own conceits, forms, and rules? Do they have an essence?"

Boxer makes a compelling argument that at least one style of blog writing does have essence. She excludes large numbers of types of blogs, the miniblogs that frequent Amazon Reviewers produce for example. One major reason: as a Reviewer I can link only to URLs in the Amazon system. Bloggers typically link to other stories, by way of commenting, informing or complicating their own writing.

Boxer's project seems almost infinite. Most blogs are updated regularly -- some multiple times a day. Boxer has pulled excerpts of just a few pages from each, sometimes spanning several years. Much, by necessity, is left out. Nonetheless, she has discovered some very interesting blogs, well worth exploring, and built an excellent case for her thesis:

"Blog writing is id writing--grandiose, dreamy, private, free-associative, infantile, sexy, petty, dirty. Whether bloggers tell the truth or really are who they claim to be is another matter, but WTF. They are what they write. And you can't fake that. ;-)"

Robert C. Ross 2008