So I wrote a fairly negative review of Joshua Henkin's Matrimony in today's L.A. Times. It's only fairly negative because I toned down the negativity in the editing process. You shoulda seen it before!
Of course, I have mixed feelings about writing a bad review of somebody else's work. Is it bad karma? I get stung by bad reviews of my work--how can I inflict that pain on somebody else? Well, it's a good question. Short answer: I'm kind of a dick.
But then I was thinking Henkin and I could start a little literary feud. Regular readers of this blog may recall that I hoped for the same thing when I trashed the steaming pile of excrement known as Frank McCourt's Teacher Man in the Boston Globe. But apparently Frank was too busy dancing a merry jig atop the pot o' gold they gave him for an advance to care about my review.
But Joshua--(Can I call you Josh?) I know you're reading this, because you're a writer, and you therefore autogoogle regularly. Obscure literary novelist vs. obscure popular novelist--this could only help both of us! Here's how I'd go after me: "Halpin, a scribbler of popular fiction that has thus far not proven to be very popular [ouch! That smarts!--ed.], disses both me and Papa Hemingway in one review. Of course suicides are known to become unquiet spirits, so it's my sincere hope that Papa will rise from his grave and crush Halpin like the insignificant little gnat he is." Okay, okay, the whole unquiet dead thing is much more my style than yours, but you get the idea. Hit me with your best shot! Fire Away!
