# Ron Charles (critic)

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For the basketball player, see [Ron Charles (basketball)](/source/Ron_Charles_(basketball)).

Ron Charles

American literary critic (born 1962)

**Ron Charles** (born 1962 in [St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis%2C_Missouri)) is an American book critic, formerly of *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*.[1] His awards include the 2008 [National Book Critics Circle Award](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle_Award) Nona Balakian Citation[2] for book reviews,[3] and 1st Place for A&E Coverage from the Society for Features Journalism in 2011.[4] He was one of three jurors for the [2014 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction](/source/2014_Pulitzer_Prize).[5]

Charles grew up in [Town and Country, Missouri](/source/Town_and_Country%2C_Missouri), and graduated from [Principia College](/source/Principia_College) and [Washington University in St. Louis](/source/Washington_University_in_St._Louis) before getting a job as a teacher at [John Burroughs School](/source/John_Burroughs_School).[6] After a student's parent offhandedly suggested he try making a living as a book reviewer,[6] Charles sent his first book review to *[The Christian Science Monitor](/source/The_Christian_Science_Monitor)*, which eventually hired him. He spent seven years as the *Monitor*'s book review editor and staff critic.[2]

In 2005, he was hired by *The Washington Post*. Sometime after August 2010, with his review of [Jonathan Franzen](/source/Jonathan_Franzen)'s *[Freedom](/source/Freedom_(Franzen_novel))*,[7] Charles began a series of video book reviews for *Post* called "The Totally Hip Video Book Review", a satirical look at books in the news and the art of [book reviewing](/source/Book_reviewing).[8] In the series, Charles [hams it up](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ham_it_up) with [sight gags](/source/Sight_gag) and intentionally bad [jokes](/source/Joke); he is sometimes joined by his wife, high school English teacher Dawn Charles.[9]

In 2026, Charles was laid off by *The Washington Post* when it reduced its staff by one-third and eliminated the newspaper's books and sports sections.[10][11]

## See also

- [Michael Dirda](/source/Michael_Dirda)

- [Jonathan Yardley](/source/Jonathan_Yardley)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Ron Charles"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ron-charles/?itid=sf_subnav). *Washington Post*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220813073055/https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ron-charles/?itid=sf_subnav) from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NBCC_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NBCC_2-1) ["Ron Charles Wins NBCC Nona Balakian Citation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090416130805/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/ron_charles_wins_nbcc_nona_balakian_citation/). [National Book Critics Circle](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle). Archived from [the original](http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/ron_charles_wins_nbcc_nona_balakian_citation/) on April 16, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Ron Charles's NBCC Acceptance Speech in NYC"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g0aiTpzVX8). [YouTube](/source/YouTube). March 3, 2009. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/7g0aiTpzVX8) from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Excellence-in-Features Writing"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120811054122/http://featuresjournalism.org/contests-2/excellence-in-features-writing/). Society for Features Journalism. Archived from [the original](http://featuresjournalism.org/contests-2/excellence-in-features-writing) on August 11, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners"](http://www.pulitzer.org/jurors/2014-Fiction). pulitzer.org. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140519111853/http://www.pulitzer.org/jurors/2014-Fiction) from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Johnson_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Johnson_6-1) Johnson, Julia M. (October 7, 2019). ["Homegrown: Ron Charles"](https://townandstyle.com/homegrown-ron-charles/). Town&Style. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220201221712/https://townandstyle.com/homegrown-ron-charles/) from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Ron Charles (August 30, 2010). ["Video review of Freedom"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190630093426/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/08/30/VI2010083003847.html). *Washington Post*. Archived from [the original](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/08/30/VI2010083003847.html) on June 30, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Dan Ozzi (February 14, 2011). ["For Your Consideration: Ron Charles, Video Book Reviewer"](http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/46115-for-your-consideration-ron-charles-video-book-reviewer.html). *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120908070910/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/46115-for-your-consideration-ron-charles-video-book-reviewer.html) from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Videos by Ron Charles: Totally Hip Video Book Reviewer series"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140106035936/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/09/22/VI2010092201878.html). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. September 22, 2010. Archived from [the original](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/09/22/VI2010092201878.html) on January 6, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Bauder, David (February 4, 2026). ["Washington Post cuts a third of its staff in a blow to a legendary news brand"](https://apnews.com/article/washington-post-staff-reduction-layoffs-cuts-923f87d4bd319c8a64b278165d0a6e27). *[Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press)*. Retrieved February 5, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Spratford, Sam (February 4, 2026). ["WashPo Shutters Books Section Amid Widespread Layoffs"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/99611-washpo-nixes-books-section-amid-widespread-layoffs.html). *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*. Retrieved February 5, 2026.

## External links

- [Ron Charles](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/12/12/LI2005121200902.html), articles at *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*

- [Ron Charles](https://roncharles.substack.com/), at [Substack](/source/Substack)

- [Ron Charles](https://twitter.com/roncharles), at [Twitter](/source/Twitter)

- [Interview with Ron Charles](http://www.bookslut.com/features/2009_10_015219.php), by [Bookslut](/source/Bookslut), 10/2009

- [Appearances](https://www.c-span.org/person/?1028975) on [C-SPAN](/source/C-SPAN)

- [Ron Charles Receives Storyteller of the Year Award at 1455 StoryFestLive](https://1455litarts.org/ron-charles-storyteller-of-the-year/), 2022

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ron Charles (critic)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Charles_(critic)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Charles_(critic)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.