Is it even legal to publish excerpts of books like this? Or does this fall under some kind of exemption/fair use clause?

Publishing an excerpt of a book for the purpose of critical commentary is very much fair use.

Ok, thanks!

	▲	bawolff 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		As a general rule, if you are doing something "educational", fair use gives you very wide leelay, especially in the united states.