Wikipedia:Peer review/A Journey/archive1

A Journey

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I've listed this article for peer review becaus I'm interested to know in what direction I should be taking it. Currently the article is about 2,000 words in length and covers the topic quite comprehensively. There are more events to come with regard to this book's publication so more will be added. It also needs a picture, although I may not be able to add that myself because of problems with my browser. I would ultimately like to get this up to GA, or possibly even FA, status, so would like to know what else it may need to get to that level. Thanks, TheRetroGuy (talk) 20:21, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

I should add that I haven't actually read the book yet so my summary is based on newspaper reviews of the book. It could do with someone who has read it taking a quick look to make sure all is well, adding things that are missing, etc. TheRetroGuy (talk) 20:30, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

Quick comments by Jappalang

• As the book was just released (and with constant news pieces), I think I can safely say that this is unlikely to be a stable article for some time. It would be best to revisit this with the aim of higher level assessments after at least half a year. Just as an example, the New York Times has released an article that gives the sales figures for this book (which is not reflected in the article here).

• Some parts are falling into recentism and sensationalism. Focus on the items that have "longer legs to stand on". Items that typically would not be bothered with after a few months have passed should be passed over or reduced in text per WP:WEIGHT. Of note, why should we have an entire quote from the person who tried to make a citizen's arrest? It does not help to clarify the situation in an encyclopaedic sense; no insight was given into the motive behind this little act or such. It was simply a descriptive statement.

• Major image issue: File:Gordon Brown at G-20.jpg is a copyright violation. It is an AP photo; it was not taken by a US government employee as claimed.

• Image conundrum: Although I replaced File:A Journey.jpg with a better image, I am not certain if this can pass WP:NFCC. The project allows for identifying pictures unless a free alternative is likely available. The book cover is simply a portrait of Tony Blair with text of his name and the book's title. Those words cannot be copyrighted and Blair certainly has free images around. The fair use rationale used for the cover is also pretty much a "cookie cutter" type (generic), thus becoming even weaker under scrutiny. One can help boost the need for this image if the article has commentary that concerns Blair's visage on the cover (critical comments on the image Blair gives on the cover); however, the only mention of the cover is "Preliminary images of the book's cover showing Blair in an open-neck shirt were also released.", which certainly would not fall under critical commentary that requires illustration to aid understanding.

Just the above after a quick read. Jappalang (talk) 02:06, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

Finetooth comments: I haven't read the book either, so I can't help in that way. I assume you're going to read it, although there is an old joke about Professor A, who claimed to have taught books he had never read but was one-upped by Professor B, who claimed to have published articles about books he had never read. This is not the recommended approach even though Norman Tebitt risked it. :-) I agree with Jappalang's comments above, and I have a few other comments and suggestions.

• The citations have no dead urls, but the dabfinder tool finds one dab, "The Queen" (in the final section).

• I found and fixed a few typos and other small errors.

• Possibilities for expansion:

Should the book's length appear in the main text as well as the infobox?

How well is it illustrated? What kinds of illustrations?

Can "fastest-selling autobiography" be quantified? Since the claim applies to a rate that can vary, has the rate fallen since the first few days? My point is that "fastest-selling autobiography" sounds like an advertising slogan rather than a meaningful statistic. Can you add any statistics that would clarify just what kind of big seller the book actually is?

Lead

• "Blair is donating his £4.6m advance, and all subsequent royalties, to the British Armed Forces charity the Royal British Legion; a decision which received a mixed reception." - Misplaced semicolon. Perhaps "... British Legion; this decision has received a mixed reception."

• "Anti-war protesters disrupted a book-signing in Dublin on the weekend after the launch, leading to a similar event in London, as well as a planned launch party, being cancelled amid fears of even greater hostility." - A bit awkward. Perhaps "Anti-war protesters disrupted a book-signing in Dublin on the weekend after the launch. This led to cancellation of a similar event in London, as well as a planned launch party, amid fears of even greater hostility."

• "The memoirs received mixed reviews from the media, with the Independent on Sunday's Geoffrey Beattie calling it "revelatory" and "candid"; while The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley was critical of Blair's prose which he dismissed as "execrable", although he praised the book's honesty." - The "with plus -ing" constructions are often more awkward than various alternatives, and this sentence is a bit wordy as well. Suggestion: "Mixed reviews of the memoir appeared in the media. Geoffrey Beattie of The Independent on Sunday, called it "revelatory" and "candid", while The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley called Blair's prose "execrable", although he praised the book's honesty."

• "A Journey is reported to have been received negatively by Queen Elizabeth II, who was believed to have been disappointed that her former Prime Minister had disclosed details of private conversations between them, against protocol." - The two "to have been"s are a bit awkward. Suggestion: "According to reports, Queen Elizabeth II was disappointed that in A Journey her former Prime Minister had violated protocol by disclosing details of their private conversations."

Publication

• "Blair was heckled and jeered by anti-war protesters as he arrived for his first book-signing at Eason's Bookshop in Dublin's O'Connell Street on Saturday 4 September." - Unless there's some special reason to include "Saturday", it should be deleted. Dates in Wikipedia articles don't normally include the day of the week. Ditto for "Blair appeared on the inaugural edition of ITV's Daybreak programme on Monday 6 September" a bit further down. Ditto for "doubts over whether a forthcoming book signing at Waterstone's in London on Wednesday [8 September]".
• "Something that is not legal within the Irish Republic." - This is not a complete sentence.
• "Demonstrators consisted of anti-war protestors and republicans... " - Should "republicans" be linked to Republicanism in the United Kingdom? Or Fianna Fáil perhaps? American readers may otherwise take it to mean Republican Party (United States)

Synopsis

• Since you haven't read the book, where does the synopsis come from? Even if you had read the book, it would be good to attribute as much of the synopsis as possible to reliable sources. Each paragraph in this section needs at least one source, and each of the direct quotes needs a source that includes a page number.

• ""[h]ad not abandoned the strategy of WMD, merely made a tactical decision to put it into abeyance". - Nothing inside a direct quote should be linked.

Reviews

• "Former Tory minister Norman Tebbit wrote in The Telegraph "A Journey seems to be... " - A Journey should appear here in italics?

Images

• The Gordon Brown image has been marked for speedy deletion from the Commons on grounds of copyright violation. Perhaps you can find a free replacement.

I hope these suggestions prove helpful. If so, please consider reviewing another article, especially one from the PR backlog at WP:PR; that is where I found this one. I don't usually watch the PR archives or check corrections or changes. If my comments are unclear, please ping me on my talk page. Finetooth (talk) 19:31, 14 August 2010 (UTC)