''Complete Review'' (stylized ''complete review'') is a

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry. As of March 2009, on its tenth anniversary, there were a total of 2251 works under review, averaging over 250 new reviews added per year. A

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, ''Literary Saloon'', was added in August 2002. As of its 10th anniversary in 2009, 95 percent of the reviews were written by the site's founder and managing editor, Michael Orthofer (b. 1964, Austria). From the beginning, it was Orthofer's intention to create an institutionalized persona for the site, and he therefore did not sign his name or even have it anywhere easily visible. However, beginning in 2009 Orthofer, recognizing that he was the majority contributor, announced "posts and reviews will now be signed 'M.A.Orthofer', as I might as well lay claim to (and accept blame for) them." On founding the site Orthofer said "I’ve always read a lot and been interested in literature, and I was interested in exploring the possibilities of the Internet. It struck me that while there were a lot of sites ... offering book reviews, practically no one was linking to other reviews of the same book, so that’s what I set out to do." In 2010 Orthofer published a book about the website called ''The Complete Review: Eleven Years, 2500 Reviews. A Site History, with commentary on diverse and sundry related matters''. In 2016, Orthofer published ''The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction''., a reader's guide to world literature with an emphasis on fiction published since the 1990s.

Critical and popular reception

In October 2004, David Orr of the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' said "it remains one of the best literary destinations on the Web." In 2005, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine included it as one of the ''50 Coolest Websites 2005''. John Freeman of the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c) organization, 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the N ...

said of the site in 2006, "The ''complete review'' seemed to appear out of nowhere, but suddenly it became one of the most useful aggregating sites on the web for book information and news, especially from abroad." Chad W. Post at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 2009 said, "I don’t think there’s a reviewer, or publication, in America that’s as diverse as Michael Orthofer's ''Complete Review''. Nor as meticulous about record keeping and self-aware about its reviewing trends." A February 2016 article in ''The New Yorker'' by Indian novelist Karan Mahajan featured an in-depth profile of the website and Orthofer.

Notes

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Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

blog, April 26, 2016
"An Interview with M.A. Orthofer"
Sharon Huberfield, ''The Yeshiva University Observer'', March 13, 2016 American literature websites Internet properties established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United States

Critical and popular reception

Notes

External links