Letters to the Editor
flowersinthebasement
Published Letters: 1
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Say What You Want, This Is The Best Humor Essay I've Read In A Loooong Time
[Read the article: The best-laid plans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where to begin? With pity for the frustrated writers out there? Nahhh. First off, I have never ever seen such a group of commenters (that Salon calls this the "letters" section is a joke and has also struck me as a joke) so proud of themselves. The first rule of book reviewing or any kind of criticism is to take the word for what it is and analyze it within the parameters of that work. Not to sit around and thing of what you WISH it was or had been. And who knows? This is an excerpt. Perhaps whatever your heart desires to make it less fluffy or whatever is in the actual essay. I don't know and I don't particularly care. Because I just preordered a copy of I WAS TOLD THERE'D BE CAKE from Powell’s. And that is how I intend on finding out. Like a real reader who loves books. Clearly some commenters are New York City-based and obsessed with other profiles on Ms. Crosley because I was so confused by some of the refrences here, I wound up Googling her myself. And this isn't about being mean to some poor girl. I don't care what the hell happens to this author, frankly. The web isn't about being "nice."
Except that I would like to see more and more of her writing if it's anything like this. But maybe that's the trouble with first person pieces of this nature? You wouldn't confuse a single article for the definitive work on a subject but here, Crosley's essay is under fire because it means she's not black enough, not poor enough, not smart enough, too slutty, too prude, too clever, not clever enough. WHO CARES? The play’s the thing, remember? The subject is not the most original I have ever seen, no. I will freely give everyone who mentioned that due credit. But the voice…try rereading it. If you feel the same and that it sucks, that’s fine. But the writing is truly excellent and well above Salon's standards. But I do suppose this is what Sloane gets: wrestle with pigs and you're bound to get dirty.
Jeff.