A sporadically promulgated annotated listing of arguably worthwhile, recently published online reading, new or revised websites of potential utility or ostensible interest, and other internet-accessible experiences that, were it not for the casually collected, cavalierly collated, & capriciously collocated components comprising these posts, could easily be overlooked - which would be, in some cases, a shame
Don’t Call Us, …
No Thanks, Mr. Nabokov by David Oshinsky
The New York Times Book Review (7 September 2007)
A celebration of the rejection letters from Knopf that, as the author puts it, “missed the mark,” this column is essential reading for artists subjected to the capricious judgments of editors, agents, gallery owners, curators, critics, etc. and a reminder to the rest of us that rejection may have less to do with an accurate assessment of our own worth than with the faulty judgment of the individual offering the evaluation.
How about a rejection letter that includes the phrases, “very dull” and “a dreary record of typical family bickering, petty annoyances and adolescent emotions” - like the one sent from Knopf in response to the submission of “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank. Of course, that manuscript would also be rejected by 15 other publishers before Doubleday bought the rights to one of the best-selling books in history.
A similar fate met the first submissions from Vladimir Nabokov, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mordecai Richler, Bashevis Singer, and Sylvia Plath, among others.
This essay on missed opportunities by those who claimed to know better can be found at
~ No Thanks, Mr. Nabokov ~
How To Shop The Internet Mall
Online Purchasing And Researching Tips is an expert’s list of cautions and tips for purchasing online.
From my own experience, I would especially emphasize these points from this piece:
1. The wisdom of researching (a) the product being purchased (I’ve had success, for example, finding cheaper alternatives, such as discontinued lines, to expensive electronic equipment) and (b) any online retailers not familiar to the buyer. The easiest means of checking out sellers is to punch the name into Google and search through the results for customer responses. If nothing negative turns up on that first search, run a second with the retailers name and “reviews” or “customer” to find useful information.
2. The necessity of checking shipping and delivery charges before committing to the purchase
3. The usefulness of the sale and coupon aggregation sites. In addition to those listed, I’ve had good luck with the following:
This advice about buying from internet sellers can be found at ~ Online Purchasing And Researching Tips ~
