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I tend to side with the professional review crowd. However, I think that familiarity with the reviewer is more important than his level of expertise. For example, a professional critic, whose work I do not know, may hold a certain view which is contrary to my own. If I take his review at face value, then I am likely to be disappointed with the book. However, if I am familiar with his work, then I can infer something about the content of the book.
I thought that I would also play the devil's advocate and bring up the problem of bias in professional reviews. Particularly troubling are the countless cases in which favorable professional reviews have been purchased. The democratic star system helps to avoid such corruption.
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