The NYT has an article (reg. req.) on how a computer glitch unmasked "anonymous" Amazon reviewers, revealing that a number of literary celebrities were using the site to pump up their own ratings or settle scores. Such self-reviewing has a long history, of course; the NYT points to American authors like Whitman, although Sir Walter Scott also reviewed himself--it's actually quite an interesting and occasionally self-critical essay! Amazon quickly junked the only example I've seen so far of one author openly attacking another in the reviews: Author A (not famous) accused Author B (famous) of plagiarizing his work. (I imagine Amazon heard the pitter-patter of little lawyers' feet.) I've also come across college students using Amazon reviews to strike back at disliked professors, usually with little to no mention of the book theoretically under discussion.
UPDATE: More of the same from the Guardian, with some responses from British writers.
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