The knives are out in the cosy world of US book reviewing. Editor Chip McGrath has resigned from one of the world’s most venerable book review sections, the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

Alex Beam of the Boston Globe has already stuck the knife in: "Books are fun and interesting to read, but the Sunday Book Review is neither ... Too often the reviews read like book reports, cooked up using a predictable formula: summarizing the book, inserting some praise, perhaps ending with a guarded reservation or two, carefully phrased so as not to offend ... the review hardly ever helps you answer the key question: Should I spend $26 on this book?"

Beam might have a point. You can read his latest column here.