“Thank you for killing my novel.”

I realized that Janet Maslin, who is not only one of the most accomplished critics in the world, but who is also the person who lifted my first novel, “The Cradle,” out of obscurity with a rave review three years before, had made a simple reading error within the first five pages of my novel.
She‘d mixed up two characters.

It was really important to not mix up those characters.

And she never realized it.

OMG The New York Times messed up, but you will never guess how they went about resolving the error. (Hint: They literally emailed the fictional main character in question! Okay, that wasn’t a “hint.”) Patrick Somerville’s review of the negative review he got for his latest novel, This Bright River, is an epic tale unto itself and a quick mediumread with so many twists!