What really bugs me about this kind of review is not that he failed to appreciate something that I appreciate greatly --though he did-- but that his agenda was to prove to his readers how clever he could be in issuing his negative opinion. To make such mean yet ultimately pointless barbs such as saying a given poem could have been written by "Frost’s deaf yardman," for example, makes one wonder if he can be equally humorous when issuing praise, and, if not, whether he sometimes prefers to display his sense of humor rather than being fair and accurate.
Just as I don't like critiques at Erato when people come up with wittily condescending one-liners in place of criticism, I don't like reviews that use the same tactic.
Anyway, if I were Dick, I'd look upon this bad review as the fortuitous cause of my inclusion in Tim's poetic tribute, and I'd therefore be grateful to the reviewer who attacked me. (Well, almost...)
[This message has been edited by Roger Slater (edited June 08, 2002).]
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