And Reviews - Good and Crazy - Are In

Every now and then I spend a day going out to various bookseller sites to read reviews of my books. The one book that has been getting positive 4 and 5 star reviews is Space Oddities. I’m reading reviews like:

“I enjoyed this book. I found it well-written with great stories. There was some humor and I loved the author’s tone.” 

“This is not a technical history and Cuhaj does a fine job bringing out the human element…Overall, there is something for everyone who thinks they "know it all" about the space race. I highly recommend this book.”

There are a fair number of critiques that I take to heart. These are reviews that only serve to make me a better writer and I do appreciate them.

But then, there are those that just make me shake my head. Here are a few with the answers I WOULD like to reply with, but I know when to curb my Jersey sarcasm:

• “If you or someone you buy gifts for is interested in the defunct space program, give this book a read.”

Quick! Someone tell NASA! They’re defunct! Cancel the next Artemis flight!!

•  (This is an actual conversation from my website):

“This book is great. How did you write it?”

On a laptop.

“No, no! I mean, how did you write it?”

Sometimes a pen.

(No more comments on this thread.)

• “I give it one star. I purchased this from Amazon and it arrived in the mail damaged.”

Let me call Jeff Bezos for you.

•  “This book cost me $22.95. I wouldn’t pay $25 for it!”

Ok, but thank you for your $22.95. 

• “There is no way you hiked all of the trails in this book.”

You’re on to me. I’d better fess up to my family about my long weekends away and my affair with chipmunks. 

• (A reviewer comments on the story of Mobile’s Boyington Oak where legend has it, a man was unjustly hung for a murder, but before he died, he said an oak tree would grow where he was hung to prove his innocence. An oak tree did grow on the very same spot.)

“Joe, do you know how many oak trees there are in downtown Mobile? Imagine the number of acorns rolling around over the centuries.”

Ok, I can’t argue that, but are YOU going to be the one to end a 188+ year legend? Not me!

Oh, there are more, MANY more. I'd better get back to reading them, and just shake my head.