Literary criticism is analysis, interpretation and evaluation of authors and their works of literature, which can include novels, short stories, essays, plays and poetry. Such critical analysis is often written by literary critics and is found in essays, articles and books. Literary criticism is not necessarily negative; "criticism" means a thoughtful critique of an author's work or an author's style in order to better understand the meaning, symbolism or influences of a particular piece or a body of literature.

A book review can be defined as a critical evaluation of a book usually published in a magazine, journal, or newspaper. Book reviews are usually short and may describe the plot or style, and may give information about the author. Literary criticism is usually longer and more scholarly and is often, as noted above, not necessarily about a complete book but may be about a short story or essay, etc.

The difference between the two is sometimes not entirely clear.

For an example of a book review of Little Scarlet from the New York Times, see here.  

For an example of literary criticism, see this article about Kerouac's On the Road, found in Academic Search Complete, titled "Beating Time," published in the journal College Literature.

If you are using Literature and the Writing Process, see the Appendix on Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature.  

If not or for more information, see:

Analyzing and Writing about Poetry:

Start with a Research Question. What do you think might be the answer(s)?

Consider:

• Persona, tone, poetic language (imagery, symbolism, personification, etc.)
• Form (rhythm, alliteration, etc.)
• Author's background
• Time period
• Theme