Is Zinsser Writing a Children’s Book?
By James Spica

To be completely frank, William Zinsser’s “Writing About the Arts” (ch.18 of On Writing Well) is a bland introductory read—and should be regarded only as such. All information of great import is stated, an example sited, and sights are set immediately on the next point. This is meant for the writer who sits down one day and says “I’d like to write some art criticism,” long before said writer has gone to his second-ever gallery show or writing reading. It seems as if Zinsser is writing to a child—it pains the ears of any person who has any common sense or has read even one review. This piece is for simply breaking the ice, as is noted in phrases such as “a distinction should be made between ‘critic’ and ‘reviewer’” (p. 196), a concept which anyone who had no more than a slight grasp on the concept of writing could figure out for themselves.
Zinsser does hit on one fine point, though—he does not hesitate to note that the critic should be considerably more intelligent than the reader. One should not be limited to writing for simple minds—those who cannot understand intelligent art criticism probably wouldn’t understand art anyway.