Comments on: Two, Four, Six, Eight / Now’s the Time to ‘Salivate’! This Week’s Gusher Award for Achievement in Hyperbole in Book Reviewing Goes to … http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/ Janice Harayda Reviews Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry for Adults and Children Thu, 16 May 2013 19:28:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5616 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:38:35 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5616 On this one, there’s a fat double standard in publishing for the sexes and for different kinds of books. Looks may be much much more important to a female first novelist than to a male author of a book on do-it-yourself Honda repair.

]]> By: knightofswords http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5614 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:53:27 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5614 After reading your story, I’m discouraged because I look like those hideous prison photographs they show on TV of criminals who–through looks alone–look guilty of everything.

In your case, you must have made a good impression.

Malcolm

]]> By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5609 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:27:29 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5609 Malcolm: To answer your question about sending in glossies: Very possible. Or the publisher may have asked to meet with her.

True story: Before my first book came out, my agent said that Firm X hoped to make an offer but that the people there wanted to meet me first. My agent’s exact words were: “They want to look at you.” That firm did publish the book. I had no idea if I’d have gotten the contract if I’d had two noses or looked like Goldie Hawn in the movie where she wore a fat suit.
Jan

]]> By: knightofswords http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5606 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:22:48 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5606 When the first reviews came out, one chauvinistic suggested that her looks got her the contract rather than the merit of her prose. I wonder how she accomplished that–did she send in a few glossy pictures with her query letter?

In terms of salivating–nice pick. “Drooling” might have been a more interesting word had the reviewer been competent enough to have thought of it in a campy sort of way.

As for the bad reviews, those who say the book is incomplete and/or that the author has a tin ear for prose, obviously don’t grok the novel and need to go away and be quiet.

Malcolm

]]> By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5603 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:23:53 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5603 And both men and women fell into the trap. I read one review in which a female critic kept saying how jealous she was Pessl’s looks. How, may I ask, will that help those of us who are trying to decide whether to read the novel?

]]> By: moonbeammcqueen http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/two-four-six-eight-nows-the-time-to-salivate-this-weeks-gusher-award-for-achievement-in-hyperbole-in-book-reviewing-goes-to/#comment-5602 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:34:18 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=790#comment-5602 Ha! After seeing the author’s photo, I doubt that it was the novel they were salivating over.

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