Most good books I read have 5-stars on Amazon, but my all-time favorites have bad reviews

I see this pattern all over the place. The brands that people want to tattoo on their bodies are also the most repulsive: Metallica and Harley-Davidson come to mind.

Extreme levels of greatness can be polarizing.

This thread was inspired by @ShalnevaE, one of my favorite writers who credits André Gide’s 1895 novel, “Paludes,” with giving her a new understanding of the world.

3 stars on Amazon. Mixed reviews.

I’m more interested in the distribution of reviews than the average one.

For example, I’d rather read a book that some people *loved* but most people didn’t like than a book that’s merely liked by everybody.

Books that everybody praises are often good, but rarely life-changing.

My theory of mixed reviews applies to professors.

During my junior year, I didn’t take a class with Professor Cahill because her reviews were so mixed: “Too much reading!”

But I changed my mind senior year, and the intensity of her class made it the best one I took in college.