Best Compliments and Silliest Bashings Ever?

[Steven Lake]

So, what are some of the best compliments you guys have ever had on a book, or even the silliest negative comment? My best comes from a lady who read my Oort Perimeter three years ago. She said, "I hate you! The book was so good I couldn't put it down!" Second best is probably the snobby lady that came up to me at a book signing and said, "If I don't like it within one page, I won't buy it!" Four pages later she throws me a $20 and says, "Sign it. I can't put it down."

Now, for my silliest bashing ever, this one comes from an Amazon comment. The guy said he liked the book except for the fact that lizards can't purse their lips. Um, it's a sci-fi. You can do just about anything. Second silliest has to come from a guy who hated one of my short story anthologies simply because he hated ferrets.

So, what are some of the best or silliest compliments or bashings you've ever gotten on your books?

[mr ploppy]

The bottom review on this site is the best review ever.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review...ton/1110196303

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

The bottom review on this site is the best review ever.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review...ton/1110196303

Lol. Are you sure you didn't write that review? We should have that kid review all our books. "My Mom mad me read" reviews by Anonymous Kid

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

Lol. Are you sure you didn't write that review? We should have that kid review all our books. "My Mom mad me read" reviews by Anonymous Kid

When I first saw it I did think my son had written it, but if it was him it would be on Apple and it would say his dad made him read it.

[Anna Drake]

I have a free short story out which generated what to me was one of the funniest reviews. The reader bashed me, saying, "She had a good story going and she killed it in six pages!" Ah, it WAS a short story.

[Harper Kingsley]

Just got this in my email about Little Boy Blue: "Urgent! Urgent! When will the sequel with the conclusion come out. Hanging by my fingernails here!"

I better get on that right now (made my day completely)

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

One of my first book reviews made this statement: "Comparable to Lord of the Rings!"

Boy, did I swell up.

Until I saw later reviews of other books of mine, and by others, by the same reviewer; and with most of the reviews, she said... are you ready?... "Comparable to Lord of the Rings!"

Oh, well...

[Steven Lake]

One guy I'm friends with on Facebook recently had a really weird review from a lady on Amazon. She said, "Loved the book! 5 stars! But taking off two because it was too short." o_0;; Seriously.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

One guy I'm friends with on Facebook recently had a really weird review from a lady on Amazon. She said, "Loved the book! 5 stars! But taking off two because it was too short." o_0;; Seriously.

I had something similar: one of my lowest ratings on GoodReads (3 stars) last I checked and if I recall correctly (I try not to check often, I can see it becoming a compulsion) was something like "I loved it, but I'm rating it poorly because it was too short."

Which... I guess is a compliment? I mean, 20 chapters, clearly marked from the get-go with a Table of Contents, but apparently it felt abrupt to the reader.

It doesn't help, I guess, that my book "feels" longer in terms of the page-count because there's a big deconstruction post at the end. But since my deconstructions are what made me Slightly Popular On The Internet, it's kind of what I *do* and my regular readers expect it.

Sometimes I'm glad I haven't done the Amazon Free Promotional stuff. I've heard that people with unusual books can get slammed hard on reviews, based on mistaken expectations from all the people who got it for free.