Customer Reviews

Other People's Rejection Letters: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You'll Be Glad You Didn't Receive

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The letters in this book are fully engaging and beautifully presented, spanning a full range - from rejection letters sent to famous people (Andy Warhol, Jimi Hendrix, etc.) to relationship kissoffs ("You were right; I'll be fine without you") to notes scrawled by kids ("I hat you," [sic], "I'm running away"). But what's especially impressive is how the letters flow, one after another, with little treasures left here and there -- a typed note from Eleanor Roosevelt, a sexy text about a "doggystyle" party, the saddest break-up letter ever, and on and on. They're like sparkling one-act plays. And the book isn't just entertaining to read: it helps you see clearly that you're not alone in the universe, that everyone gets shot down once in a while. This would be a great gift for graduates seeking to make their way in the world with their pride and sense of humor in tact.

Once again editor Bill Shapiro has managed curate a collection of insight into people's most emotionally charged experiences in this selection of rejection letters. I loved being a voyeur into people's pain and couldn't put the book down until I'd consumed each letter. I am amazed by people's willingness to publically share the disappointment of rejection. I respect by all the people who were brave enough to share and I think this shows people's humanity in this universal experience. What's also cool about Other's People's Rejection Letters is that it encapsulates work, love and general life rejection and shows how people communicate over time using different technologies. What a journey through life and history.

This book is missing one rejection letter...the one that should have been from the publishers of this book. Exceedlingly boring, the follow up letters should be WITH the rejection letters, not stuffed in the back. Some letters are very hard to read. The good news is, it look less than 2 hours to read, but certainly NOT worth the cover price. DULL DULL DULL

This was an amusing concept, and one in ten or fifteen of the letters in the book are actually very funny. The others are simply boring as hell. If the funny ones were made into a book, it would be a slender volume, indeed. I slogged through a reading of a foreclosure notice, numerous rejection letters of no interest whatsoever, a petition for divorce, and a long (boring) notice to a parent that her child bites other children and is being sent home. The book is virtually all filler, and very little frosting. I wouldn't buy it if I were you; if you want to read rejections of this quality, you could just send poorly written material to publishers and then visit your own mailbox. It's a shame, because this could have been much better.

I ordered this book expecting that the rejection letters would be funny and entertaining. They're not. Many of them are simply standard, straight-forward rejection letters and I had to wonder, from an editorial standpoint, why they were even included. Some of them are mildly entertaining once you know the back story, but the background information is included in the very last section rather than with the letter itself. This is a very disappointing, and not at all amusing, book.

Read this and then give it to a friend. Some of these letters are gems. Others are extremely ordinary and I wonder why they are even in a book. Unlike an "Onion" book that is so funny that the jokes never get old, you will feel no need to read this book twice.

I could not stop reading this once I picked it up. Some are just plain funny, but others - when you put yourself in the place of the recipient - are incredibly harsh and downright mean. That's where the twisted part comes in. It's amazing how brutally honest people can be in writing, and how unproperly funny it is to get a chuckle (or laugh so hard your gut aches) out of these notes. This is the kind of book you will pass around to every one you know, and then talk about the rejection letters each of you may have received or seen. A great book to break out to get the conversation flowing at your next get together.

Except for a few that have some historic value (like those from Jackie Robinson and Eleanor Roosevelt, for example) the rejection letters found in this book are forgettable. If for some reason you enjoy the tenor of rejection letters, have the time of your life. If for some reason you find them enlightening, change your reading habits. This kind of book would inspire a reality TV show. Whoop-di-do.

Since its novelty wears off quickly, this book is a one time read at best. Spare yourself the unnecessary expense of a new copy. If you feel you must own this book in these trying economic times, do yourself a favor and buy it used.

I loved this book for what it is, but maybe that's because I never expected it to be a side-splitting comedy piece. Rejection is part of life for all of us ~ famous or not. This is an honest reminder that we all experience it in many forms. I handed it off to my teenager who is currently feeling the sting of rejection, knowing it will help. It'll make you smile and share it with a friend.

It's tough to work up a case of schadenfreude at the misfortune of others depicted in this book. That's because most of the missives reveal more about the sender than they do the receivers. The targets of these bad tidings have retained good humor about these episodes. They're in on the joke...which is why they got submitted to this book.

The ones that work the best are the famous rejections - Jimi Hendrix getting booted from the military, a young Andy Warhol getting the brush-off, The Black Sox participants getting blackballed from the game, and Jackie Robinson's stirring, courageous rebuke of President Eisenhower. The more personal notes - usually professional rejection or the termination of a relationship - are worthy of a short chuckle but quickly forgotten. Too bad those comprise about 80% of the book.