Brief Excerpts from (Fictional) Reader's Reports
"This story is not worth the paper it's printed on. The plot is utterly stupid and the characters superficially portrayed. This book doesn't have any redeeming qualities."
"It feels as if there ought to be four or five chapters left--not necessarily to wrap everything up, but to follow [the author's] themes through to something beyond a formal exercise or a fucked up Christmas Carol."
"[The author] categorizes this seventy-some-odd page manuscript as a 'Cyberpunk Epic.' I'm pretty sure that's code for sci-fi with funny clothes and a stupid haircut."
"Neither story nor characters have substance. The story even becomes cheesy towards the end. The author uses a couple of interesting stylistic techniques (chopped sentences, internal dialog), but they don't salvage the book."
"...not adventurous, they contain no questions or answers or skillful structures. They are unsophisticated and undeveloped and simple. I will recommend this one no more than the last one."
"The stories are better crafted than almost anything else I've read lately, but sometimes I find that annoying--it's not discreet and it's not quite mastery. It's a very talented writer showing off his talent. I can spend a few pages playing along and then the fact that I'm being manipulated becomes apparent and I prefer the authors who are merely manipulating themselves (suggestive and accurate) and letting me watch."
"Likewise, the political group with which he was involved is referred to simply as 'the Movement;' while this appears to be the author’s attempt to pique the reader’s curiosity, to sound ominous, etc., it reads like a creative writing piece by a high school student who has gleaned her plot points and characters from a mishmash of mediocre films."
"This sample is one of the most artlessly written pieces I've read here. I could pick half a dozen better manuscripts out of the slush pile with no trouble. I could barely stomach reading the 81 pages that I was given and I'm grateful at least to the author for not submitting a complete manuscript. That's it and that's all."
"The way [the author] works the basic premise of the book (overweight woman wants to get even for humiliations suffered in adolescence) reminds me of a bad flick on teenage bickering and cattiness. I simply cannot recommend this book."
"Its absurdities are not absurd enough and the ending to the book is heavy-handed and leaves a foul taste in my mouth."
Note: I did not write any of these and no one knows who did and these have nothing to do with anything at my place of employment or anywhere else on Earth. Consider them a fiction, though I claim no authorship.
Jessica, you're A-OK in my book.
"It feels as if there ought to be four or five chapters left--not necessarily to wrap everything up, but to follow [the author's] themes through to something beyond a formal exercise or a fucked up Christmas Carol."
"[The author] categorizes this seventy-some-odd page manuscript as a 'Cyberpunk Epic.' I'm pretty sure that's code for sci-fi with funny clothes and a stupid haircut."
"Neither story nor characters have substance. The story even becomes cheesy towards the end. The author uses a couple of interesting stylistic techniques (chopped sentences, internal dialog), but they don't salvage the book."
"...not adventurous, they contain no questions or answers or skillful structures. They are unsophisticated and undeveloped and simple. I will recommend this one no more than the last one."
"The stories are better crafted than almost anything else I've read lately, but sometimes I find that annoying--it's not discreet and it's not quite mastery. It's a very talented writer showing off his talent. I can spend a few pages playing along and then the fact that I'm being manipulated becomes apparent and I prefer the authors who are merely manipulating themselves (suggestive and accurate) and letting me watch."
"Likewise, the political group with which he was involved is referred to simply as 'the Movement;' while this appears to be the author’s attempt to pique the reader’s curiosity, to sound ominous, etc., it reads like a creative writing piece by a high school student who has gleaned her plot points and characters from a mishmash of mediocre films."
"This sample is one of the most artlessly written pieces I've read here. I could pick half a dozen better manuscripts out of the slush pile with no trouble. I could barely stomach reading the 81 pages that I was given and I'm grateful at least to the author for not submitting a complete manuscript. That's it and that's all."
"The way [the author] works the basic premise of the book (overweight woman wants to get even for humiliations suffered in adolescence) reminds me of a bad flick on teenage bickering and cattiness. I simply cannot recommend this book."
"Its absurdities are not absurd enough and the ending to the book is heavy-handed and leaves a foul taste in my mouth."
Note: I did not write any of these and no one knows who did and these have nothing to do with anything at my place of employment or anywhere else on Earth. Consider them a fiction, though I claim no authorship.
Jessica, you're A-OK in my book.
posted by jw at
4:37 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, honey. You are A+ in my book (...get it? I'm a teacher). Love you.
Sincerely,
Ms. Eggert
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