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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Books Alice Hoffman Can Type With Her Fingers Crossed

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 11:28 AM

9dd9/1246383427-the-ice-queen.jpg I wrote yesterday about Alice Hoffman's Twitter meltdown. She called a Boston Globe reviewer of her book a moron and an idiot; she announced that the reviewer wasn't a writer (when in fact, the reviewer had published many books, and had stories published in The New Yorker); she claimed that Boston wasn't a real city; and she finally published the reviewer's e-mail address and home phone number, urging her fans to harass the reviewer. Several hours later, Alice Hoffman's Twitter account vanished.

And then a little later, she issued this utterly half-hearted apology through her publisher:

I feel this whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion...Of course, I was dismayed by Roberta Silman’s review which gave away the plot of the novel, and in the heat of the moment I responded strongly and I wish I hadn’t. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Reviewers are entitled to their opinions and that’s the name of the game in publishing. I hope my readers understand that I didn’t mean to hurt anyone and I’m truly sorry if I did.

If you ever have to give an apology you really don't want to give, you should use the above Hoffman apology as a Mad-Libs-style template. It's really a masterpiece.

Comments (3) RSS

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As someone with a writer husband, let me just say that, as a rule, writers should probably not say a word about a bad review or rejection to anyone other than their significant other for about 48 hours. Absorbing the crazy was part of the bargain for me, but when the crazy gets out into the world, bad things happen.

Posted by Julie in Eugene on June 30, 2009 at 2:05 PM

"I'm sorry if I offended anyone."

That has to be my favorite non-apology apology line. Every time a public official uses it, my blood pressure goes up another notch. The only thing worse than not apologizing for your crappy behavior is blaming others for reacting negatively to your crappy behavior.

Posted by TVDinner

on June 30, 2009 at 3:02 PM

Flaming people seems to be a permanent part of our society now. I think we all recognize the feelings of anger and subsequent regret in this situation. Judge not...

Posted by kresblamania