San Francisco Chronicle Review
My hometown paper, the SF Chron, finally reviewed "Jesus Land" today. It's a great review. Unfortunately, it's riddled with errors. As a book reviewer for the New York Times, I know it's crucial to triple-check your review before filing it. In fact, the Times is so anal, you have to jot down page numbers for every adjective, fact and quotation you pull from a book, so their squad of fact-checkers can comb through the manuscript and verify them. I once described a character as "balding" but forgot to reference the page number. When they couldn't find the adjective, I had to spend two hours re-scanning the entire book for the qualifier. Lesson learned.
Apparently, the Chron has no such fact-checking desk, at least not in their Book section.
The most egregious of the five errors is a statement that my brother David "accuses me of being a racist." This NEVER happened.
With those disclaimers, here is the review.
Happy Sunday, Julia
Apparently, the Chron has no such fact-checking desk, at least not in their Book section.
The most egregious of the five errors is a statement that my brother David "accuses me of being a racist." This NEVER happened.
With those disclaimers, here is the review.
Happy Sunday, Julia
5 Comments:
Don't be too hard on him. He obviously didn't read the book, must have been running late for a deadline, and just sort of winged it. We just need to take the typewriter away from him before he does any more damage.
I adored your book, but it too (the version I have, anyway) was riddled with typos. I hope the next release gets a better editing job!!
Ha - you must have gotten an "Advanced Reader's Edition" - it's a paperback which goes out to reviewers, not meant for the public - which are generally riddled with typos...it's not the finished product. In fact, it's quite different, as far as polish and content. Unfortunately some sellers are offering these an Amazon. My only advice - buy a hardback or wait for the paperback to come out.
Julia
Actually, I have a hard-cover copy, bought from a bookseller. I don't know much about how books are distributed and if it's still possible that I have an unusual copy. I would be happy to describe the copy I have further and provide examples of the typos.
Again, I really enjoyed your book. I'm a memoir junkie and this is my favorite in a long time.
Cynthia, Yes, I have a paperback copy and it too was riddled with typographical errors and missing words in sentences.
Julia, dont let them get away with this!
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