Ahh, the sheer joy of purchasing a hardcover when a favorite author publishes a new novel. This one, Don't Look Twice, by Andrew Gross, was read from cover-to-cover before I put it down. Although Gross's big break came from co-authoring with James Patterson, I was disappointed to see that disclaimer is still on the cover of his third me-only book.
Perhaps it's 30+ years of doing my job, but I always find the misprints. Family and friends know that when I pass a book along, it will be marked. Although I am always optimistic, I cannot recall the last time I read a book without making a mark, a sure sign that our standards aren't what they used to be when it comes to publishing.
The first printing error is hanging the M at the end of one line and finishing the orales at the beginning of the next (p 104). Next, there is "A vase of hydrangeas in a vase" (p 215), which is probably some new decorating thing, putting one vase of flowers inside another vase, and who am I to criticize? Finally, and this one is so silly, if one character is going to quote another, why change fucking to lucking? "The sight of leaving him there. Broken. In tears. Why couldn't you just take the lucking job?" (p 309). The changing of the spelling makes a poignant moment humorous, which destroys the moment completely.
Of course, I could rant and rave about the consistent use of the common misspelling of all right into alright throughout the book, but that offends some of us and is not even on the radar for the majority of readers. Sure, alright is accepted, but that's only because it's so often misspelled that most people have given up ever seeing the correct spelling. Doesn't make it right; just makes it expedient.
I was going to send an email to the publisher (HarperCollins) to suggest that corrections be made before the next printing, but I couldn't find an email contact address. I also thought I'd drop a line to the author, but couldn't find him, either. The TrackAuthor feature is a long list of individuals who have personal web pages about an author, and it's by their name, not the author's name. Nothing like a whole lot of useless information to deter actual contact with companies.
So, HarperCollins Publishing and/or Andrew Gross, there are a few printing errors that could be corrected before you republish Don't Look Twice. The chorus of so what? who cares? is ringing in my ears.
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1 comment:
I have a few professional writers I follow regularly. A few are sports writers and they post their articles online. I am always disappointed to see a professional writers professional online article with multiple errors in grammar or spelling.
If it was the person's private, nonprofessional blog, then that would be okay. But these are professional sites! They should have the same level of editing that the printed versions of these magazines receive.
You and I frequently have errors on our blogs; however, we make no claim that these are professional sites and we are not getting paid to post what we post. If we were getting paid for it, I can guarantee that we would seek out editing assistance to ensure the least number of errors possible.
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