I offer a modestly qualified reader’s opinion regarding where, why, and how authors fail in writing books. The published volumes that I have used as examples are readily available in the open market, although I have excluded specific information.
1. Author revenge. The author trashed noted personages, engaged in petty gossip, and exalted his own importance.
2. Target practice. The author generated an intriguing topic and title, but managed to veer off-course by elevating minor details.
3. Unintelligible construction. Sentences, paragraphs, and chapters were complete, organized, and elegant. Nothing made sense individually or in the conglomerate.
4. Laundry list. This author described inventions, but neglected to include the importance of each discovery.
5. Bad focus. The author introduced scientific discovery from the wrong end of the telescope; portrayed events were drab and lifeless.
6. Slick pen. The author engaged in polished hero-saves-universe tripe.
7. Cliché scribe. The author produced “crash, bang, boom” stories and fact snapshots.
8. Stiff prose. The author never quite relaxed until the final chapter.
9. Unsavory topic. The author gleefully imparted low information; the book was sleaze, sleaze, and more sleaze. I never finished it.
10. Fuzzy think. The author glowed generalities, but provided no specifics regarding the historic mapping of an important event. Maybe I didn’t get far enough into the book, but it does seem that facts are required to substantiate conclusions.
11. Raging diatribe. The author delivered facts with overwhelming angry, emotional overtones. The book was wearing and ultimately rather dull.
12. Honey money. The author wrote carelessly both literally and figuratively; the publisher neglected to edit or proofread the result.
There is a thrill of discovering a genuine gem among all the unpolished stones. I persist in reading the invisible, unusual, and unproven tomes. The gems will last; the unpolished stones will soon sink mercifully from view.