Pushcart's Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections: A History of Insult, A Solace to Writers (Revised & Expanded) (Literary Companion Series) (Paperback)

~ Andre Bernard (Editor), Bill Henderson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A welcome bit of fun. -- Philadelphia Inquirer

Disrespectful to publishers. -- Anonymous publishing executive

Product Description

Three highly acclaimed volumes are gathered together for the first time with many new nasty reviews and ridiculous rejections of great authors and classic books, including Melville's "Moby Dick" ("tragic-comic bubble and squeak") and John Le Carre's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" ("You're welcome to Le Carre--he hasn't got any future".) Illustrations .

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Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Pushcart Press; Revised & Expanded edition (April 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888889047
• ISBN-13: 978-1888889048
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #628,633 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just the book for frustrated writers!, October 4, 1999

By	Laraine A. Barker "Laraine A Barker" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is clearly an update of "Rotten Rejections, The Letters That Publishers Wish They'd Never Sent", and it looks like much better value than the original, which was only 101 pages and cost me NZ$19.95. The original was both entertaining and a great tool to help keep a frustrated writer going in the face of nothing but rejections. A must-have for you if you fall into this category.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soothing rottenness for all aspiring writers, July 21, 2000

By	Robert James (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If the greatest authors of all can be rejected and survive, maybe there's hope for all unpublished authors. The publishing racket has only become harder and harder to break into these days, unless one is willing to go the route of electronic publishing and on-demand printing, both of which remain dangerously akin to vanity press printings as of this review. This wonderful little collection serves as a comic tonic to the rejection and review blues; although some of the authors are obscure today (which is my reason for not giving it full marks --it's hard to laugh when you have no idea what book is being rejected), overall it's a marvelous little read. Some examples of rotten rejections: Tony Hillerman was told to "get rid of all that Indian stuff"; J.G. Ballard was told "the author of this book is beyond psychiatric help"; William Faulkner was told about his novel "Sanctuary" "Good God, I can't publish this. We'd both be in jail."; and my favorite, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language." When one considers that J.K Rowling had the first Harry Potter book rejected ten times before it was published, one has to wonder what publishers are thinking. Now you can see for yourself how badly they perceive literary quality, most of the time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rotten It's Not, May 27, 2000

By	Catherine Wald "writerwald" (Westchester County, NY or www.writerwald.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

T.S. Eliot's work: flapdoodle? Ralph Waldo Emerson: a toothless baboon? Dylan Thomas: a pernicious figure? Bernard Malamud: superficial and unconvincing? Viriginia Woolf: dull? Yes, according to the critics and publishers quoted in this wonderfully comforting book. Isn't it nice that history -- and readers -- proved them all wrong?