Half Moon Bay and Writing Failures
I don’t think there is a writer in the world who doesn’t cringe at his or her own writing from time to time. It’s easy to get discouraged, which is why I’m heartened by positive reviews. They let me know that I’m on track and delivering what readers want. Even better are negative reviews of other books. They let me know that even well known writers, or well publicized writers don’t always hit the mark. Of course, knowing you’re no worse than some other schmuck is a poor substitute for praise, but we writers will take what we can get. Best of all are the monumental failures, books so bad that they make your worst book look like The Great American Novel.
That said, I’ve usually refrained from gloating over someone else’s poor reviews in public, which is why it was so unusual for me to post a scathing review on my Facebook feed last July. Here it is in total:
“The next time I question my writing, I’ll only have to look at Half Moon Bay again and be assured that writers far worse than I are still published by reputable publishers. Read it aloud and have a good laugh.
“I live just north of Half Moon Bay, so when I saw a new book called Half Moon Bay and set in my own backyard, I had to take a look. I’ve reviewed plenty of books, but I’ve never been tempted to spread the word about a really bad book — until now. Simply call it up on Amazon, click on the Look Inside feature, and read the sample chapter. Then read the reviews, and you’ll wonder how such incoherent, overwrought drivel received any stars at all. The author, Alice LaPlante, taught writing at Stanford, where she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow. Stegner must be spinning in his grave. If you want something amusing to show your friends, you can have all 272 hardbound pages for $24.25 (the cover is kind of nice), or the Kindle edition for just $13.99. For the record, Scribner has foisted this gewgaw on the innocent public. I expect the editor (if there was one) has moved on to another line of work.”
I know I’m being mean spirited to call attention to it, but I couldn’t help it; it felt so good to know that I’m not the worst writer on the planet. The book had only been out a week or so at the time, so it was hard to know how the general public would receive it — anything is possible. As it transpired, I’m not alone. Six months after its release, fully 50% of reviewers have given it only one or two stars out of five.
That gave me pause to wonder how books are received by their intended audience. While poorly written books can become bestsellers (Love Story, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull are good examples), at the same time, some beautifully written books receive poor reviews because the subject matter is disturbing (My Absolute Darling), or because the storytelling is deficient (Less, and Infinite Jest, and Ulysses), or the public is not up to the literary challenge (The Sound and the Fury, or Lincoln in the Bardo come to mind). Yet it’s nice to know that a writer can still trust in his or her artistic vision, however quirky, and still find an audience. It gives me hope.
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