The Vanishing Book Review in Student-Edited Law Reviews and Potential Responses

This essay by Sanford Levinson remarks on the relative dearth of book reviews among the volumes of material annually published by law reviews. Levinson demonstrates this decline through anecdotal and statistical evidence. He then explores both the importance of book reviews as a tool for matching authors to their intended audiences, and their largely untapped potential for invigorating academic scholarship and debate. The essay concludes with some suggestions as to what can be done to slow or reverse the current trend.