The Bookish Girl

WSBGD? ~ 2008-06-03

Posted in Thar she reads,are you bored yet? by Bookish Wendy at 12:55 pm.
15

WSBGD = What should Bookish Girl Do?

I attended my monthly bookclub meeting last night at our local big-box bookstore. Which, incidentally, is not all that bad. This is not to say that I am not still a staunch supporter of locally owed establishments and will ALWAYS seek them out first. However, the empty local bookstore niche created by this big-box bookstore has, in some cases, been adequately filled by its very existence. Which, I suppose is the point but not always the case.

In any case. I picked up a book that guides you through suggested books to read for specific topics. I enjoyed the topics; I thought the titles were well balanced. I noticed a typo in the table of contents. I bought it anyway. I am a sucker for these types of collections. What to read… What you should read… The X,XXX best books for blah blah… I find them stimulating and fun and they get my reading juices flowing.

The typo I forgave. Copy editing is hard. Things fall through the cracks. Too many hands in a pot etc, etc. Otherwise – shit happens. Typos get through to final published books. No one knows this better than a knitter.

I brought the book home and spent the rest of my evening going through the 1,001 titles checking off those that I had read with a pencil. There were brief descriptions under each title summarize the plot, salient points, and / or the merit of the book. Most of these I skimmed through. I had read the books and in most cases loved the books. I did not feel compelled, for the most part, to read what someone else had to say about them.

Toward the end of the book I came across an entry for The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. I listened to this memoir via ipod during my commute while still living in Boston. I believe it is a book better listened to than read. The author narrates the audio book and she does it more justice than the voices in my head could ever do. (This is the case for most anything – my voices are a bit loco). It is a lovely story, one that I was deeply touched by and often recommend. In a fit of nostalgia I read the summary under the title. This one mentioned the basic premise of the book. Not in so many words it said – ‘After returning from the hospital room of their now dead daughter the author’s husband dies.’

I almost cried. This was wrong. wrong. wrong. The daughter was not dead – she was ill, very ill. This fact establishes a main plot line through this memoir. A very important poignant fact was blatantly wrong. The author of this fun new book of mine clearly did not read A Year of Magical Thinking nor did she (or anyone) fact check. The summary then went to on to say what a wonderful book it was.

I was really pissed. I hate being lied to. I hate paying for something that wasn’t properly researched. It is not hard to do good work…so why wouldn’t you?!! (This is totally not a James Frey type issue, this is a different beast. This isn’t someone’s recollection of reality.)

Now the question.

I have marked this book with pencil. I am mad about supporting this book financially and REALLY want to vote with my pocket book. Which, in this case, would involve returning the book. But – I marked it up?! Can I return it?

Now I realize that my purchase and return of the book is not a strong message to anyone. But I feel as though the universe receives all of these actions and balances them appropriately. So this is an important action in my view.

What would you do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{day 12 – The Bookish Girl Should… take a deep breath and untwist her panties.}

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15 Comments »

  1. queenmaxine says:

    I would return it to the publisher with a letter of protest requesting a good faith refund or gift certificate toward other books of theirs. I would also request they acknowledge their f-up in some way. A letter apologizing to Miss Joan perhaps?

    I would return the book to the publisher even if it meant losing the dollars. If this was the case, I would make edits in red throughout the book pointing out every error I could find. It would be a twisted sort of fun exercise for me.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 1:21 pm

  2. Bertha says:

    If you used pencil to mark up the book instead of pen, I’d just erase my marks and return it. This probably makes me an asshole, but there you go.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 1:27 pm

  3. margene says:

    Make your corrections to the book and return it to the publisher. They should know better and should know you know they are inept.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 1:28 pm

  4. PICAdrienne says:

    Write a letter to the publisher letting them know their fact-checker did not do a great job, in that particular case. That in fact, the synopsis is wrong. The point of the book is to be factual, and you found an error in fact. You probably want to reference page numbers.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 1:32 pm

  5. Gena says:

    My first thought is to write to the publisher! Maybe send them the book in hopes you get a refund or some such. Whatever you decide to do with your copy of the book, definitely write to the editors. It makes me wonder how many other book descriptions in there are wrong!

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 1:59 pm

  6. Patty says:

    I like Margene’s idea of sending the book back to the publisher with the corrections – you’ve just got to figure out who to send it to so that they actually see it. Some other l-a-z-y person may just toss it in the trash!

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 3:42 pm

  7. Erin says:

    That sucks. :( I’m sorry.

    As someone who worked for a publisher, the best thing you can do is contact them directly with your complaint. The bookstore is just the middleman and complaining to them or demanding your money back will not be proactive. Most publishers have an online feedback component or you can write to the editor directly. I’m not promising they’ll refund you, but making them aware is the big point, non? In addition, you can write to the author herself making her aware of her mistake(s).

    Just as a side note: books are huge endeavors and mistakes happen. No excuses, because that’s a pretty big mistake, but just putting it out there. The author is only one in a loooong line of people who touch, manipulate, finalize, and add to the book. Ten people can stare at the same mistake and not catch it. They should have reviewed it more thoroughly, at any rate, since that’s a fairly new (and not obscure) book.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 3:47 pm

  8. Sarah says:

    I haven’t read The Year of Magical Thinking but I see some syntactic ambiguity with the synopsis you quoted. Joan Didion’s daughter did die, just not in the book (actually, she died shortly before it was published). Perhaps when the synopsis says her “now dead daughter” they are referring to the fact that she is, in fact, dead now?

    It’s still a pretty weak excuse, and completely horribly worded, but maybe that’s what they were getting at? I would still write the publisher, if it were me.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 4:27 pm

  9. Stephanie says:

    Returning the book to the bookstore may make you feel better in the short run, but contacting the publisher/editors/author would actually be a step towards a correction.

    I’m interested to read your comments on The Year of Magical Thinking. That book has been on my shelf waiting to be read for over a year – I somehow can’t bring myself to read it. I know it will be good, but I’m worried about the effects on my mental health (silly, I know). Maybe I’ll give it a go soon.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 4:33 pm

  10. Jane says:

    I read The Year of Magical Thinking a while ago, and I googled Ms. Didion’s daughter’s name after I finished. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach when I realized what happened to Qunitana shortly before publication. Although factually correct, I still do not think it’s appropriate to reveal Quintana’s death in the summary. She was still alive when Joan Didion finished the book. She should be allowed to tell the rest of the story on her terms and in her words when she is ready.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 5:18 pm

  11. Kay says:

    Bookish Girl could tell us the name of the book. This would mean none of us would buy it.

    I loved Year of Magical Thinking and am also horrified at this description, which spoils something it purports to be recommending.

    Kay

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 6:49 pm

  12. WendyI says:

    Write the publisher, girlfriend! I’m an editor and I truly appreciate feedback that makes the product BETTER. They might not appreciate the marked up version, but a tersely worded e-mail could go a long way… Hope you’re well! Glad you’re back to regular blogging :)

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 8:35 pm

  13. KT says:

    I grew up around the corner from the author and knew Quintana fairly well. I have the book in both paper and audio form and cannot bring myself to either read or listen.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 9:08 pm

  14. AmyS says:

    I agree with a couple of comments above. I think it refers to the fact that her daughter is now dead, not that she was dead in the book. I also agree that the fact shouldn’t be included in such a brief summary of the book, since it isn’t a part of the book. I did know this however, when I read the book (from an NPR interview with Didion when the book came out). It certainly brought an additional layer of poignancy to the book (not that the book needed it). Anyway, I don’t know if it makes you feel any better that it wasn’t an error of fact just an error of judgment…

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 9:10 pm

  15. Cara says:

    I don’t think you can return the book, but I like the idea of writing the publisher and sending the book along with it.

    I’m just jealous you’re reading, suckage or no suckage.

    Comment - June 3, 2008 : 9:42 pm

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