Don't read this

Critical Mass have drawn deserved attention to a great critic I've never read before — someone called Jon Swift, whose reviews appear on Amazon, except when they don't. "Considering all the attention my reviews have brought to the money-losing Internet bookseller and all the inspiration they have given people by showing that you don't necessarily have to read books to review them, you would think that Amazon would be more appreciative of my work" he complains. Most of his reviews are taken down the moment they appear. A selection:—

Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat:

I have not actually read this book but I want to point out that there is one very big mistake right on the cover: The world is not flat; it is, in fact, round. Even though I am a conservative like Mr. Friedman and I appreciate his support of President Bush and the War in Iraq, I think conservatives like us have to be very careful about being perceived as unscientific because of our opposition to Evolution and I think a book like this which has a scientific error right on the cover is not very helpful.

(4 out of 31 people found this review helpful)

Maureen Dowd's Are Men Necessary?:

"I have not actually read this book but I want Ms. Dowd to know that men are very necessary. Without men, for example, I think we would be losing the War in Iraq. I used to like Ms. Dowd when she was attacking President Clinton for having sex but now she is attacking President Bush and there is no evidence whatsoever that he is having sex so I don't understand what the problem is.

(2 out of 8 people found this review helpful)

Mark F. Levin's Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America:

"I have not actually read this book but I love the movie with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. I thought it was very funny and very imaginative with all of the alien creatures. I don't remember the movie saying anything about the Supreme Court but I know they often change books when they adapt them into movies. Even though I agree with everything Justice Scalia says he does sometimes seem like an alien from another planet, which I mean in a good way.

(4 out of 8 people found this review helpful)

E. Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain he writes:

"I have not actually read this book but I did see the movie and I liked it very much. However, I don't understand why people keep referring to it as the "gay cowboy movie." Can't two men be very good friends without everybody saying they're gay?

(7 out of 23 people found this review helpful)."