How authors benefit from reader reviews
Dear Fellow Literary Lions:
Writing is a solitary vice. It takes place alone, separated from the world, and it's carried out for the benefit of readers the author will probably never meet. That's why I am always delighted to get feedback about my writing via reader reviews. The readers write the reviews solely for the satisfaction of doing so. There's no money or glory in it. That's why these reviews are so valuable to those of us who do our work in near-perfect isolation from the "real world."
Donald D. Schuster of Monticello, Illinois posted the following review of my book, Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston, on Amazon.com. He gave me permission to post it here. My reply follows below.
My response:
Thank you for posting your review of Mary's World at Amazon.com. I chuckled when you wrote, "All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing." The naming patterns of the Pringles -- where they use family names interchangably as first or middle names -- is a hallmark of the South Carolina Lowcountry. I tried to compensate for the confusion potential by putting mini-biographies of all the family members at ther front of the book, so readers can sort them out if they put the book down for a few days or weeks.
As to your comment, "Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder," the answer is no. As a born-in-Connecticut Northerner with no personal ties to the South, I had no axes to grind for the North, nor inherent sympathies for the South. Mary's World is an unvarnished view of a forty-year period through there eyes of a wealthy, slave-owning family who lived in Charleston. Most readers have highly ambivalent feelings about Mary after reading the book -- myself among them. She was an exemplary mother, and an extraordinary teacher who believed that both girls and boys should get good educations. She enabled her girls to be well-educated by educating herself first -- a privilege not granted to her by Victorian society. On the other hand, although she believed that no Christian could morally justify slavery, she never let go of the belief that it was nevertheless necessary for her family, her state, and the Southern way of life. And indeed, many church members, ministers, and even the churches themselves of every white religious denomination in Charleston were slaveowners --even the Jews (former slaves themselves) and Methodists (who officially preached against slavery).
You write, "Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family." I have always thought of him as a pragmatist rather than a Unionist, for his choice to ally himself with the Union in Louisiana was chiefly economic. As a Southerner with seven brothers in Confederate Uniform, and a man with deep roots in Charleston, I've never thought the choice was patriotic or intellectual. On the other hand, I think he's the most complex character in the book.
Thanks for spotting the "three-l" "million" on page 347. It will be corrected in the next printing!
With warmest wishes --
Dick Côté
P.S.: You may read all the Mary's World Amazon.com reviews by clicking here.
Writing is a solitary vice. It takes place alone, separated from the world, and it's carried out for the benefit of readers the author will probably never meet. That's why I am always delighted to get feedback about my writing via reader reviews. The readers write the reviews solely for the satisfaction of doing so. There's no money or glory in it. That's why these reviews are so valuable to those of us who do our work in near-perfect isolation from the "real world."Donald D. Schuster of Monticello, Illinois posted the following review of my book, Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston, on Amazon.com. He gave me permission to post it here. My reply follows below.
The book is well written and entertaining. The story was nicely presented around the letters of Mary Pringle. All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing. A nice reference chart showing the relationship of the characters should be included at the beginning of the book. Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder. It's hard for a Northerner to muster up a lot of sympathy for this family of slave owners. Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family. It's ironic that the South nearly destroyed our country in the 1860's, but is saving it today.
Don Schuster
[P.S.]: The word "million" is misspelled on page 347.
My response:
Thank you for posting your review of Mary's World at Amazon.com. I chuckled when you wrote, "All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing." The naming patterns of the Pringles -- where they use family names interchangably as first or middle names -- is a hallmark of the South Carolina Lowcountry. I tried to compensate for the confusion potential by putting mini-biographies of all the family members at ther front of the book, so readers can sort them out if they put the book down for a few days or weeks.
As to your comment, "Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder," the answer is no. As a born-in-Connecticut Northerner with no personal ties to the South, I had no axes to grind for the North, nor inherent sympathies for the South. Mary's World is an unvarnished view of a forty-year period through there eyes of a wealthy, slave-owning family who lived in Charleston. Most readers have highly ambivalent feelings about Mary after reading the book -- myself among them. She was an exemplary mother, and an extraordinary teacher who believed that both girls and boys should get good educations. She enabled her girls to be well-educated by educating herself first -- a privilege not granted to her by Victorian society. On the other hand, although she believed that no Christian could morally justify slavery, she never let go of the belief that it was nevertheless necessary for her family, her state, and the Southern way of life. And indeed, many church members, ministers, and even the churches themselves of every white religious denomination in Charleston were slaveowners --even the Jews (former slaves themselves) and Methodists (who officially preached against slavery).
You write, "Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family." I have always thought of him as a pragmatist rather than a Unionist, for his choice to ally himself with the Union in Louisiana was chiefly economic. As a Southerner with seven brothers in Confederate Uniform, and a man with deep roots in Charleston, I've never thought the choice was patriotic or intellectual. On the other hand, I think he's the most complex character in the book.
Thanks for spotting the "three-l" "million" on page 347. It will be corrected in the next printing!
With warmest wishes --
Dick Côté
P.S.: You may read all the Mary's World Amazon.com reviews by clicking here.
posted by Dick Côté | 4:52 PM
