»Worst Amazon Book Review (Cerebral Palsy)«
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Tonight I've been reading all the hype about a famous new book by Joan Didion called The Year of Magical Thinking ♣, and let me tell you, just when you thought literary celebrity couldn't get stupider, it has. But I think Didion's book (which I haven't read and will not read) can't be worse than the trash being promulgated by book critics who are falling all over themselves to praise this memoir by Didion about the sudden death of her husband and fatal illness of her daughter. And, even worse than the book critics, I think the book-celebrity-watchers are the really disgusting part about the current phenomenon of everyone always reading the same book because Oprah or The New York Times says you must. In a way, that is what has always saved literature from its own sorry self: the fact that the famous writers are not nearly as bad as their unfamous wannabe's. Which brings me to the point of this post: a book review of The Year of Magical Thinking I found on Amazon. I'll let it speak for itself, after which I will have a few choice comments to make about it. Ms. Didion's Book Is Amazing! , October 17, 2005
Reviewer: Derek McFadden (Redmond, WA United States) And, in my opinion, it is a must-read for anyone who has lost a close family member. Writing is never easy, but it is ten times harder when someone you've come to identify as your rock is no longer there. I applaud Ms. Didion for her courage and for being willing to share her grief. When my beloved grandfather died of lung cancer, learned first-hand what it meant to lose someone you not only depend on but love. He'd always said that, despite the cerebral palsy I was born with and any other obstacles I may face, I was one day going to be on the New York Times Bestseller List, and he was going to be there to see it happen. Well, I haven't made the best-seller list yet, but, in tribute to my grandfather, and to help me through my own grieff, knowing I was about to lose him, I wrote "Prose From A Grandson To A Senior Fellow". Anyone who enjoys Joan Didion's book, which deserves all praise it gets, by the way, should also look into "Prose From A Grandson To A Senior Fellow". All my best. Derek So this is basically what this fellow has said, this is how his logic works: (1) Didion's book is amazing, especially if someone close to you has died. (2) I know something about how hard writing is because I have done it after someone close to me died. (3) My grandfather died of lung cancer. (4) I have cerebral palsy. (5) When I was young, my grandfather thought I was going to be a famous writer. (6) I have so far proven my grandfather wrong about that because I am not yet a famous writer. (7) When my grandfather was about to die, I wrote a book about it. (8) Anything positive anyone is saying about Didion's book is true. (9) Read my book. So there you have it, folks. Portrait of a wannabe who managed to sneak an advertisement for his own book into Amazon Reviews under the guise of praise for a famous writer's new book. The review almost makes me want to actually read Didion's obviously boring, unimaginative, and worthless book just to get the rotten taste of Derek McFadden of Redmond, Washington and his horrible, horrible selfishness out of my brain. 
posted by holy_of_holies |
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| in-my-opinion.orgEntertainment & SportsEntertainment & Art (Assorted topics)Worst Amazon Book Review (Cerebral Palsy) |
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And I find someone who criticizes books without reading them to be clueless. Those who can, do. Those who can't (apparently read or write), criticize. My dad had a saying about folks like you. "Buy 'em for what they're worth. Sell 'em for what they think they're worth. And you can spend the rest of your days fishing for bass." Get a clue. AmazonDan  posted by Amazon Dan |
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 Amazon Dan: And I find someone who criticizes books without reading them to be clueless. LOL, I proudly proclaim that I have never read a word of Joan Didion OR Derek McFadden, and I can already tell you that they both write GARBAGE ! Those books are written by people who want pity from the public for their misfortunes, but they will get none from me. Literature is a conqueror's art, not a forum for publishing a sustained whining about loved ones dying! I can guarantee you that any book I ever publish will not be about the deaths of my loved ones (and there have been a few). It will be something that I can be proud of for what it says about me and the world, not a way to slip my name into print under the guise of a tearjerking family memoir. Boo hoo, Joan and Derek, enjoy those royalty checks! 
posted by MindSlave |
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I want to add to my posts here that I very much sympathize with Derek for his apparent illness; my post against him was meant in the spirit of cultural critique, not as an affront to his dignity. Also, I have nothing against "family literature" of the kind Derek McFadden and Joan Didion write unless it I see it hyped inappropriately on the Internet; indeed, my great-grandmother was a poet who published her reflections on family and domestic life in newspapers and magazines, often in the Boston Herald , the major newspaper nearest her home in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. I never met her, but I imagine she would have told me something quite different than what Derek's grandfather told him about the New York Times Bestseller List; maybe something about the silliness of literary hype and celebrity, who knows? Here is one poem of hers that was published in the Boston Herald during the year of 1960. It's a nice poem, but you won't see me hyping it on Amazon like Derek did his own book, because I don't go to Amazon to look at advertisements, and I don't want others to have to either. Boston Herald, 1960 I have never done them more gladly: All the routine tasks of fall, Things we always do, Sometimes complaining: Raking the littered yard, Covering the flower beds, Planting the jonquils and the tulips And especially the Easter lillies. This year there is an urgency: A comfort watching neighbors Doing the same thing, Like friends praying together for peace: As if the preparing Could somehow assure another spring. posted by MindSlave |
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 *yawn* posted by fatpie42 |
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fatpie42: *yawn* Well, ante up then fatpie42, I haven't seen any of your poetry posted on this site! Could it be you don't have any?
posted by MindSlave |
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When I wrote my book, I never thought, People love whiners, so what I'm gonna do is whine, and hopefully folks will like it. I wrote my book for my grandpa or "papa". When I wanted to give up or whine or crumble under pressure, not unlike that which you, my dear critical wannabee, are trying to apply upon me, he would not let me. Just because your great-grandmother might not have told you she hoped you'd be on the New York Times Bestseller List, just because she might have told you such dreams were silly, does not mean others can not hold them close to their hearts. I have cerebral palsy. I'm not whining, okay? It's part of me. But I would greatly appreciate it if you did not refer to something you know nothing about as an "apparent illness." Such phrases do nothing more than highlight the apparent illness afflicting you; ignorance. Now, here's the deal. If you wish to spend your days decrying work that means a lot to me, which I think the world is better for, and several people I've talked to about the book would agree with me, the least you can do is visit my website and read some of the poems you claim are garbage. Then maybe you could e-mail me from that site so you would no longer be a random coward of a poster and so that I might respond to you more efficiently.  D posted by DerekMcF |
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DerekMcF: I wrote my book for my grandpa or "papa". When I wanted to give up or whine or crumble under pressure, not unlike that which you, my dear critical wannabee, are trying to apply upon me, he would not let me. How am I a "wannabe?" I was just criticizing your approach to publicizing your work, meaning advertising your book by working it into an Amazon review of another writer's book! Just because Amazon's editors don't weed out that kind of thing doesn't mean that if you post it, you will be immune to criticism. And pressure is a fact of life, especially for writers. DerekMcF: I have cerebral palsy. I'm not whining, okay? It's part of me. But I would greatly appreciate it if you did not refer to something you know nothing about as an "apparent illness." Such phrases do nothing more than highlight the apparent illness afflicting you; ignorance. How do you know I know nothing about cerebral palsy? I know, for instance, that it's a muscular disorder caused by early brain injury! I called it an "apparent illness" because I have no evidence before me to indicate that you in fact have cerebral palsy, not because I didn't believe you. And how would you know if I am ignorant? You apparently haven't even looked at my user profile for this site, because in your next quote you describe me as anonymous, when in fact my profile links to my homepage on the Web which clearly displays my name and details about my life. DerekMcF: Now, here's the deal. If you wish to spend your days decrying work that means a lot to me, which I think the world is better for, and several people I've talked to about the book would agree with me, the least you can do is visit my website and read some of the poems you claim are garbage. Then maybe you could e-mail me from that site so you would no longer be a random coward of a poster and so that I might respond to you more efficiently.
D No, I don't want to read your poetry, and I won't do it unless you post it in neutral territory. You have already called me ignorant and a coward, in addition to the fact that you have advertised your poetry inappropriately on Amazon.com. So there are three factors which count against you in my estimation of your character, a primary consideration when I decide what writers I want to read. I'll read a poem of yours if you register on this site and post it here, how's that? posted by MindSlave |
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Hello? Earth to Slave boy! Can you Read this? Do you have a clue? What is your ignorant problem? Don't you have anything else to do during your day then to keep spreading bad energy on the net? Man... you have too much idle time on your hands and I think you are pathetic along with the others out here who read your offensive replies of crap! kathleen posted by Kathleen |
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Kathleen, you are ridiculous and not worth replying to. posted by MindSlave |
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 MindSlave: LOL, I proudly proclaim that I have never read a word of Joan Didion OR Derek McFadden, and I can already tell you that they both write GARBAGE ! That statement REALLY, REALLY does make you look like an ignorant, biased, ranting fool, Mindslave. MindSlave: Those books are written by people who want pity from the public for their misfortunes, but they will get none from me. Literature is a conqueror's art, not a forum for publishing a sustained whining about loved ones dying! Oh, so if a book contains any expression of feeling for "loved ones dying", it does not meet approval for your standards, and is automatically discarded as not being able to meet up to the standards of literature, "a conqueror's art"? What about those masterpieces that are inspired by the very experience of devastation derived from the loss of loved ones? And as for the book review, yes, I agree that it was not a very good one. It did not analyze the book, and instead went off course to talk about personal experiences. BUT Mindslave, in your attempt to criticize the book review - somehow, somehow you manage to make yourself seem like a fool. Congratulations, Mindslave, you've struck again. posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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I never meant to be unkind to you, Mindslave, as unkind as I feel your post was. Okay, so you don't like my book. Then you don't have to buy it. Okay, so you've decided you don't like my book before truly giving it a chance. Okay, so you believe my charracter is compromised by the way I do things. Whatever website, whatever blog, you post on, however important you fancy yourself, I don't care. I just don't. I know I am compassionate, caring, that people who get to know me appreciate me, that the people who matter to me will matter to me no matter what happens here and now. The sad part is if you had simply marked the unhelpful review button on amazon, that could have been it. But you were so disgusted (You own a python. That disgusts me, but I have no right to judge you, and besides that's just a part of who you are. You like snakes, just like I like dogs.) and you felt that I was so evil or whatever for doing what I did, you just had to post under the user name "holy of holies". I certainly hope, when I make it to Heaven, God is slightly more forgiving than you have been to me. You don't have to buy my book, flat-out. But did you have to attack work of mine you knew nothing about as garbage? You may be educated, but scholarly education is not the end all and be all of learning. Life itself is learning. D posted by DerekMcF |
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 OMG! A response from the writer himself, isn't that something? How do you know of this site Mr. McFadden? posted by a |
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Kathleen: Hello? Earth to Slave boy! Can you Read this? Do you have a clue? What is your ignorant problem?
Don't you have anything else to do during your day then to keep spreading bad energy on the net? Man... you have too much idle time on your hands and I think you are pathetic along with the others out here who read your offensive replies of crap! kathleen Chill out, s.times we're all offensive - s.times we don't even know, but we're being rude & mindslave spreads positive energy too, click here if you don't believe me: in-my-opinion.org… posted by a |
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nocturnal_anonymous: MindSlave: LOL, I proudly proclaim that I have never read a word of Joan Didion OR Derek McFadden, and I can already tell you that they both write GARBAGE ! That statement REALLY, REALLY does make you look like an ignorant, biased, ranting fool, Mindslave. To be honest, noc_anon, it was meant in the spirit of literary critique; I was critiquing the premise of Derek's book. There are some books that just sound so stupid you don't want to read them, and for me these include Derek's book as well as Joan Didion's book. Maybe if I were a member of Derek's family, I would want to read his book, but I can already tell you it would mean nothing to me as an outside observer. nocturnal_anonymous: MindSlave: Those books are written by people who want pity from the public for their misfortunes, but they will get none from me. Literature is a conqueror's art, not a forum for publishing a sustained whining about loved ones dying! Oh, so if a book contains any expression of feeling for "loved ones dying", it does not meet approval for your standards, and is automatically discarded as not being able to meet up to the standards of literature, "a conqueror's art"? What about those masterpieces that are inspired by the very experience of devastation derived from the loss of loved ones? No, you are engaging in hyperbole to misrepresent what I said. I merely suggested that the kind of sustained , insufferable whining that I know from reviews permeates something like Didion's book, as well as the book by Derek that he compares to Didion's book, is the makings of bad literature. I never said that any expression of grief for the deaths of loved ones in literature means that a work should be "automatically discarded," whatever that means. And there are plenty of good works of lit that are about the deaths of loved ones, like Tennyson's In Memoriam , written about the death of his best friend. But I doubt either Didion or Derek are Tennyson; just a guess. posted by MindSlave |
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