When an Author Meets His Critics

If you are a writer whose book has been listed on Amazon, you know the feeling when you see someone who has given your book a one-star rating. Sometimes, the low ratings offset whatever good feelings you may have had after reading the good reviews. I felt pretty good when my recent book Chrysler's Turbine Car: The Rise and Fall of Detroit's Coolest Creation, was positively reviewed by several well-known sources. Vanity Fair called it "fascinating," while the New York Times said it was an "entertaining meander." P.J. O'Rourke also called it a "fascinating account" of the turbine car project, and an editor from Motor Trend said it was "A relevant tale for our age." The Wall Street Journal said it was "delightful."

So why did it bother me when a customer of Amazon gave the book a one-star review -- the lowest review Amazon allows -- and said the book was "tedious"? He (or she, we really don't know) said it was a struggle to finish the book. I know we can't please all the people all the time, but it got me thinking. What happens to other authors on Amazon? What about my heroes? Are they immune to these anonymous barbs? Turns out they aren't. So, here's my advice to you, writers whose work is disparaged by faceless reviewers on Amazon. Look up your favorite books of all time and then read some of the one-star reviews they received. It will make you feel better.

To Kill a Mockingbird was called "A BORING, WORTHLESS WRECK OF A BOOK" -- yes, in ALL CAPS -- by one reader, and "one of the most overrated and hyped books of our time," by another. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling better already.

One of my favorite books is Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen. The book won a National Book Award and Washington Post Book World called it "stunning." Still, a reviewer on Amazon gave it one star and warned readers, "Don't waste your time reading this book." According to another, the book was "fluff."

One reviewer claimed she was "oppressed" by Hunter S. Thompson as she read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I wonder if Thompson went to her house and made her drop acid at gun point? Another wrote, "This book is retarded." "BK" said that Thompson was "a self absorbed jackass."

Douglass Adams doesn't fare that well either, having received his share of one-star reviews. "It is a terrible book," was how one reader summarized Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Another said it was "tedious, boring and insanely stupid." He claimed "It was physically painful to turn the page, it was that bad." Actually, that sounds more like a medical condition we might see on "House."

The New York Times called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance "profoundly important." On Amazon, "Sir Isaac Newton" (I don't think that's a real name) called it, "The worst book I have ever read. Dull as dishwater." Another reviewer came back after reading the book 15 years earlier to say, "I'd give it NO stars if possible." Imagine being that fired up against a book: To seek out a way to disparage it a decade and a half later.

So, try this next time you get a one-star review. And be glad they don't let readers give NO star reviews.