tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post1943232939070814483..comments2024-01-26T11:43:48.054-08:00Comments on Career Limiting Moves: In Which Zachariah Wells Takes on Jonathan Ball Taking on Michael Hayward Taking on Michael WinterZachariah Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02241595894807722933noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-21877519724243779932009-01-19T16:33:00.000-08:002009-01-19T16:33:00.000-08:00Thanks for dropping in, Mr. Ball. Glad to see you'...Thanks for dropping in, Mr. Ball. Glad to see you're more of a sport about this than some others have been.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>ZachZachariah Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241595894807722933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-85695039940627321542009-01-19T12:20:00.000-08:002009-01-19T12:20:00.000-08:00How can I respond without further muddying the wat...How can I respond without further muddying the waters, except to say that this is quite brilliant, particularly the following passage:<BR/><BR/>Since English has in fact appeared in every book ever written in English, every book ever translated into English and any book in another language that quotes something spoken or written in English, I find it extremely implausible that, as Mr. Ball says, Jonathan Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07658778404579677051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-31156099064084780812009-01-18T23:25:00.000-08:002009-01-18T23:25:00.000-08:00Yes, Leah Rae's reviews are ... not always useful....Yes, Leah Rae's reviews are ... not always useful. My eyes are still rolling from her review of Sean Horlor's <A HREF="http://www.geist.com/books/made-beautiful-use" REL="nofollow"><I>Made Beautiful By Use</I></A>. And on going back to Hayward's review, it's not as empty as it seemed the first time through - but I've still spent more time on it than it deserved!richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04371755412890078678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-52038391007083920682009-01-18T23:13:00.000-08:002009-01-18T23:13:00.000-08:00Okay, so I succumbed to temptation and read the Ha...Okay, so I succumbed to temptation and read the Hayward review. Interesting to note that Hayward cites Winter's public fascination with his autobiographical blunders. Anyway, the review's not stellar, but I've seen way worse. Even in the same issue of Geist. I have to wonder why Jonathan Ball homed in on Hayward, when <A HREF="http://www.geist.com/books/bindery" REL="nofollow">this stinker</A> Zachariah Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241595894807722933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-29603761260998972242009-01-18T22:56:00.000-08:002009-01-18T22:56:00.000-08:00To be perfectly honest, Richard, I still haven't r...To be perfectly honest, Richard, I still haven't read Hayward's review and I'm pretty sure I don't have to. I'm 90% sure it was mediocre, because I see reviews like it all the time. Most of anything is mediocre. Perhaps there's even more dreck in book reviewing than other fields, for many reasons: 1)lack of remuneration, leading to 2)lack of dedicated reviewers who treat the task professionally; Zachariah Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241595894807722933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-13199194727353406402009-01-18T22:20:00.000-08:002009-01-18T22:20:00.000-08:00No, I recognized the intended genre, Zach, but I g...No, I recognized the intended genre, Zach, but I got a little tired partway through it....<BR/><BR/>But more to the point, I agreed with Ball that Winter's novel - though I haven't read it - deserved a more thoughtful review than Hayward gave it. Admittedly, Hayward did a nice job of sounding clever, and sometimes that's enough in a review.<BR/><BR/>I appear to be playing The Crank tonight, I richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04371755412890078678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-25960284882033617472009-01-18T22:14:00.000-08:002009-01-18T22:14:00.000-08:00You seem to have mistaken the genre of my post, Ri...You seem to have mistaken the genre of my post, Richard. I wasn't trying to be useful, I was trying to be funny. I have no idea who Jonathan Ball is, his letter just happened to give me an idea for a way to kill a couple of hours after a bottle of shiraz, tra-la. And yes, I did have fun writing it.Zachariah Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241595894807722933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-64434276483362954882009-01-18T22:04:00.000-08:002009-01-18T22:04:00.000-08:00I haven't read Winter's novel, but I did read Hayw...I haven't read Winter's novel, but I did read Hayward's review, Ball's meta-review, and Wells' etc. Ball comes across as stuffy and uninfrmed, sure, but he was right that Hayward's review was basically empty. It was the kind of review that has absolutely no effect on whether I'm going to pick up the book in question.<BR/><BR/>Zach, I'm sure you enjoyed writing this post, but Jonathan Ball barely richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04371755412890078678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-21999748432820490722009-01-18T17:15:00.000-08:002009-01-18T17:15:00.000-08:00People who care about their industries should neve...People who care about their industries should never be chided for speaking up when they see deficiencies.<BR/><BR/>Keep it up, Zach.Meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17013847036123410760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-89683403739297878162009-01-18T05:56:00.000-08:002009-01-18T05:56:00.000-08:00I found this blog post very interesting. I did not...I found this blog post very interesting. I did not read all of it, of course, since it's soooo long. (I'd rather look at photos on the internet.) People still read?! Wow. All I know is that Michale Winter is very tall. Is Jonathan Ball tall, too? I think that matters since Ball rhymes with tall, you know - since you're a poet kind of guy. When purchasing a book, I only look at the cover. John MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15932065069432211360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31341356110251854.post-86479621324294647432009-01-18T05:20:00.000-08:002009-01-18T05:20:00.000-08:00Z, Ahahahaha, I actually read Winter's novel, ...Z,<BR/><BR/> Ahahahaha,<BR/><BR/> I actually read Winter's novel, and I'm in the minority! You should read it too, for reasons of fallacy. What I regret is that the point of the review gets lost - the book itself. What sentence am I on? Is "Ahahahaha" a sentence? Or is it a value judgement? Perhaps the realism of the laugh? Great fun,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com