It's odd. When I read a bad review, I want to pick up the book and judge for myself, rather than taking one person's word for it.

For me (books and movies both), it totally depends on what I know of the reviewer. Some of 'em, I know that I'll love whatever they love and hate what they hate (and sometimes vice versa). A review by someone who's a total stranger to me doesn't have much effect one way or the other.

Except that this guy's review might possibly have made me a bit more interested -- he seems to be reacting mostly to paperdol's authorial voice and the way she presents herself, and the way people react to that element in an essay is so particular and individual that it wouldn't necessarily put me off. A voice strong enough to elicit a really negative reaction in one person is at least a strong voice, and it might get an equally positive reaction from someone else.

Except I'm also filled with surly envy of shrift.

Aww. I'd totally send you Thai, but I suspect it would go off long before it arrived, what with the Chicago postal system being somewhat worse than Ankh-Morpork's.

paperdol, he's definitely deserving of a MarkTwainesque "Dear Sir; You may be right at that" comment. Not sure though if you should use your LJ identity to do it with.

Not to mention that instead of condemning =you= for deciding that your memoir was worth making into a book, it's the agent and publisher he should be castigating primarily. Inasmuch as they seem to be right that Other People would be interested in reading your stories, I think we can get a good idea of just how far up jheaton's ass his head is.

Yeah. I'm just sort of amused. I've no idea what to do with the critique of not being interesting, or being unlikeable.

I'm okay with that.

Having someone I respect call me a shitty writer is about the only thing that would send me to bed weeping for a few days.

Being unlikeable and boring? Shit, I say that about myself all the time.

Look - an Irish Draught Horse being used as a vaulting lesson horse!

There are going to be a bunch of Irish Draught's in Wayne in September.

ICompletelyON, eep! Recruiter interview today, job interview (with a different recruiter) on Friday.

It's not as good as (and rather more stressful than) good Thai, but it is most definitely good.

In random news, I bought this skirt over the weekend. It's not actually flattering (kind of "My hips. Let me show you them."), and I think the colors might actually be ugly (it's mostly purple and brown), and yet? I love it. LOVE.

At any rate, the point is that [she] presents herself as a rather unpleasant person, and generally speaking I prefer not to spend time with such people...

Good luck with that, Mr. Heaton. He appears to have sailed right by the point.

Also, crime makes you stupid: [link]

So if I was at Stanford Medical center about a half hour ago (To get a library card, not for anything medical), and saw a woman dressed in a very frilly white blouse and a very neon blue full length taffeta skirt rolling a harp down the street, do I win a prize for weird Monday sighting?

'Cuz I did.

Good luck with the interviewing, JZ.