Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life

Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life

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Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Three possible beginnings of a book review
Reviews

Three possible beginnings of a book review

Which do you prefer?

Terry Freedman's avatar
Terry Freedman
Jun 27, 2025
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Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Three possible beginnings of a book review
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This post is for my paid subscribers. If you think you’d like to join them, you could go for the 7 day free trial (below) in order to read the whole of this article, and others before you decide.

I’ve been commissioned to write a review of Blueprints for an education magazine. Blueprints: How mathematics shapes creativity, is the latest book to emerge from the pen (or typewriter or computer1) of Marcus Du Sautoy. Before I write a book review, or indeed any article, I need to have the title and the first paragraph under my belt. Well, the title in this case has written itself, obviously – Review of Blueprints – but what about the first paragraph?

I’ve written three versions of that so far, and I should be really interested in which you prefer – or, indeed, any of them — and why. I might not use any of them, but these are what I’ve come up with so far. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think.

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