Everybody's a critic

New flash: You just can't please some people. I did a review this week for a book of John Baeder's diner paintings. It didn't seem like the kind of thing BG Notes readers would care for, so I wasn't going to bother linking to it on the blog, but this morning I received a rude, snarky email from Baeder himself complaining about the review. Now, if it had been a rude, snarky review (which, believe me, would have been easy enough to write), I would understand. It was, however, a very positive review--a real softball, in fact. Or so it seems to me. Read it here and tell me what you think. I suppose it would be asking too much to expect Baeder to be grateful for 800 happy words about his work, his book and the show he has opening here in December. On the contrary, I suspect he thinks I ought to be grateful that he expended the energy to read my review. Raking in the dough from those paintings must be exhausting.


I shouldn't complain, though, because for every whiner like Baeder there are at least a dozen gracious, talented people who really appreciate the effort that goes into a thoughtful review. Last week I reviewed Susannah Felts' new YA novel, This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record. Again, I didn't link to it here because I assume (in fact, I hope) I don't get a lot of 15-year-olds hitting this blog. It is a very good book, however, and I recommend it if you're wracking your brain for a gift for your daughter, niece, friend's kid, etc. Go here to read my review. In spite of the fact that I had a tiny quibble with the pacing of the first part of the book, Susannah took the time to say a kind word about the review at her blog. That's very classy. It's her first book. Wish her luck.