I am well aware that an author should never read reviews of his/her work. Being a champion of constructive criticism I thought I could glean something useful from my readers reviews and comments, not to mention the professionals who did so. Boy, was I wrong! Actually, I have learned a lot from this rather painful process. There seem to be three schools of thought regarding criticism of my book Cruise Confidential. I am open to all of them. Well, most of them.
School #1: those who expect me to be an investigative journalist. Some readers expect a 60 Minutes-style expose and are shocked when the story is, in fact, simply not dirty laundry but a man's life. Had any of those folks read any of the blurbs on the front or the back cover of the book, they would see I had no intention of being an investigative journalist. Descriptions like ANIMAL HOUSE should have been a clue. 'nuf said.
School #2: those who feel they are morally superior to me. Many readers are disgusted by the level of drinking described, as if sailors have a reputation for saintly behavior while in port. Some stop reading immediately after I mention my religion. Many attribute to me the behaviors I observe in others, making me guilty by association. That's all fine and to be expected. This school also encompasses all us Americans who bristle at any even hint that America is not being a shining pillar of perfection in all things. Everyone makes mistakes, people, governments, all. Some choose to acknowledge the obvious, while others choose to ignore it. 'nuf said.
School #3: there are many who refuse to believe there are as many attractive people on Carnival ships as I say. I like this one! For the record, some were only pretty on the outside. A little ethnocentrism happens here, and certainly beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Cruise ships are in the entertainment industry, and how many fat pop stars and actors do you know? When hiring internationally, you can hire based solely on appearance if you want, and many cruise lines do. Like everyone else who is no longer college-age, I was and am jealous of all the hot people around me that are, well, hotter than me. That's life.
I decided to give a little treat to my fans who want to see some of the people I speak of. Many of the juicier, more personal tales I cannot reveal who they are out of courtesy, but I thought a sampling of some of the beautiful people I hung around with would be fun. My new, stream-lined website has pictures of Leo, Xenia, Juci, and a few others. And to think, this was from before I hung out with the entertainers on the ships!
CruiseConfidential.info
Monday, April 20, 2009
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6 comments:
Sorry, but there is a school of thought #4 - the way that you describe several of the non-white crew members you encountered. IIRC, you described a couple of them as "gorillas". That was offensive and racist. Besides, the book was also poorly written, which includes some of your descriptions of your surroundings. And you did seem stupidly driven by sex. To the point of self-absorption. So ITA that some of your critics are morally superior to you. Clearly, you were being led by your penis. Whatever it was that you did before becoming a writer, I'd appreciate it if you went back to it. Make Christmas come a little early this year, why don't you?
Yes, there are many who suffer under tremendous guilt and project their own failings onto others.
Ooooh, your answer was so on-point and concise - not. You are a tool. And I stand by my opinion that you are a bigot. Which has nothing to do with my perceived failure(s), just your own narrow-mindedness.
Maybe you should be posting at www.stormfront.org - do they sound familiar to you?
I agree with foodiefan. I picked up on racial undertones early in the book, but I thought I may have been overreacting. I am currently on page 275, a page that has confirmed my suspicion: that the author is prejudice and narrow-minded. As soon as I read the first sentence describing Dunham Best, I didn't need to wait for the confirmation to know that he would be a black man. There are a couple of other instances where you described someone of color in stereotypical detail, and I wonder what the race is of that horribly large family from Alabama. I can't believe your editor approved this...but he/she is probably narrow-minded as well.
Obviously, Carnival didn't teach you cultural sensitivity. Typical American.
la, I see we are on the same page with this guy...good. You were definitely not overreacting. I have shown the book to several of my friends, including a couple who work in the travel industry, and they were appalled by this character.
Not that it matters, but after living in Alabama all my life and being a waiter here for 5+ years, I definitely expected the shrimp family to be white. I don't think the book really carries any racial undertones, and I do think a person's physical appearance MIGHT possibly give secondary supporting evidence of assumptions already made from interactions with said person.
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