Aha! The big boys are getting their two cents worth in, now! On the special Sunday-sized newspaper edition for Black Friday, Cruise Confidential enjoyed its first review by a major newspaper! True, the considerably large Cleveland-area paper the Plain Dealer also did a review, but this is the first big boy west of the mighty Mississippi. (Sorry, Cleveland)
The question, of course, is how is the review? Apart from mocking the subtitle of my book, it was all right. I admit that my exceptionally wise publishers have posted the book with the full subtext (Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline: Where the crew lives, eats, war and parties. One crazy year at sea)... quite a mouthful. It looks funny, but is highly effective. Who needs to read reviews when you have that whopper of a subtitle? These guys know what they are doing.
Now for my griping.
Like all reviews of my book seem to do, this one makes little or no mention of the entire subject of the book, nor does it acknowledge my personal journey recorded in painfully humiliating detail: it only talks about how I twice mentioned I was attracted to some European ladies. (One, by the way, was a lingerie model). That's it. My nearly 400 page book is condensed into "me wanting to have sex with hot European women". I guess I am a misogynist pig or something. Wow. Of all the complaints I expected to hear from readers and critics, and there are many!, this was the furthest from my thoughts.
That said, I am overall very happy with the review or, rather, that they took such time and column space for it. Thank you, Chronicle!
