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Friday, July 14, 2024
  I Get Reviewed
After my first book, I promised myself that I would no longer read reviews.

It was a necessary step. Because of the unattractive controversy that preceded it, American Son got some pretty brutal write-ups. I will never forget standing on a subway platform at 79th Street in Manhattan, leafing through Esquire magazine and finding a little squib about the book. It was about three sentences long and concluded with something like, "American Son is the work of a writer devoid of what his former boss epitomized: class." Ouch. Well, more than that—I was so upset, I felt sick to my stomach and started to shake.

(The review was unsigned, and in my shock I couldn't help but think, At least I had the class to put my name to what I wrote.)

(And in my anger, I couldn't help but remember that before John's death, Esquire had published a satire of John's infamous semi-naked editor's letter photo, a series of fake nudes of John, which deeply upset him. Consistency, apparently, was not one of the magazine's virtues.)

Bad reviews are a character-building experience, but sometimes you wonder if you really need all that character.

Anyway, my self-denial lasted all the way to my second book, which got some nice reviews and some which thought it was too critical of Larry Summers. I was intrigued by the latter ones, which were invariably written by people who were without the benefit of actually knowing what was going at Harvard.

(See...those reviews still irk!)

But yesterday, my day was lifted by two lovely comments.

In a rather tough review of Harry Lewis' Excellence Without a Soul, Martha Nussbaum, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, included this digression: "The reader who looks for a balanced assessment of Summers and his tenure would do well to read Richard Bradley’s excellent Harvard Rules, which offers real insight into the personae and their ideas, with a lively and well-written narrative."

Thank you, professor—that is much appreciated.

Also yesterday I received a letter from a reader of American Son (four years after the book was published!).

I always enjoy getting letters from readers, because they are almost universally positive. Frequently, too, they are far more interesting than what the critics say, which is often a variation on, "If I had written this book, it would be better." When American Son came out, I received hundreds of letters, and did my best to answer them all. They raised my spirits at a time when I was getting beaten like a drum.

The letter yesterday came from...well, let me quote.

"I am a 41-year-old hair salon owner who has encountered many challenges along the way. My profession like many is an ever changing one. Last night I finished reading your book 'American Son.' John's story had to be told. As an ordinary American without privilege and access I have always believed John Kennedy was a fortunate man with all the tools needed at his disposal....You helped to put light upon this man, to show his frailties, problems and troubles, making this icon a very human man. You were able to allow this man the dignity anyone deserves but still tell an honest story.

...You may wonder how 'American Son' would be relevant to a salon owner on Long Island. There have been many times I have questioned my actions as a leader of a team, tried to bring my team together outside the salon to make us work happier inside the salon. Sometimes feeling inadequate I have often pounded myself for mistakes that I made. Situations that could have been handled better. You and John's story helped me realize that even men of John's caliber can sometimes 'not be correct' in handling everything that may arise. I can forgive my own mistakes and learn from them....."

Every one takes something different from a book, and that is part of the joy of writing; people always find meaning in it that you never intended. A letter like the one above means as much to me as those generous words from Martha Nussbaum.

Writing books for a living can be hard. Such letters help make it a little easier.
 
Comments:
Interesting that the perceptions of you and your work (the two can't be separated in your case) tend to differ so dramatically. Reviewers and readers too, it seems, tend to either love you or hate you. You seem to be something of a lightning rod for controversy, a lot of it - both in the case of American Son and Harvard Rules - of the "how dare you, an outsider, write about us?" variety. I wonder why that is? Regardless, you should drill down into this in your next book rather than shy away from it and try to write something unobjectionable. I think you like controversy, on some deep personal level, and ultimately the best books are always those that, regardless of subject, address the writer's inner demons. Keep at it!
 
Martha Nussbaum has it exactly right...and her analysis of Richard's writing of Harvard Rules is characteristic of his writing generally...on this blog as well and in articles he's written for other publications.

Adversity and criticism doesn't necessarily build character...it reveals it.

Congratulations, Richard.

Louise Paulsen
 
It's not that I love controversy, it's that I am stubborn about writing things that aren't being said but, in my opinion, should be. Which is to say that it's not the aftermath that I seek, but the sense of putting something down on paper that other people are trying to suppress. It may sound hokey, but it's simple: I try to tell the truth, and I get pissed off when people tell me that I can't write something.

I think Ann Coulter loves controversy. She feeds on it, gets off on it. (And if you look at the substance of her writing, you can see that assertions of fact, to her, are less important for their accuracy than their ability to generate heat.

I hated the controversy that swirled around American Son and thought—still think—that it was entirely unjustified and promoted by people with less than righteous motives. That's why I was so delighted to receive letters from readers who read the book...which many of the instigators of the controversy did not.
 
Are you going to get a free hairdo?
 
I read Harvard Rules and became far more impressed with its author once I started reading this blog. It seemed to me Richard had been taken in by the publicity-hound Tim McCarthy, a minor campus figure who in Richard's book is somehow put at the head of the barricades against Larry Summers. (When I read how McCarthy didn't want to 'contribute to the cycle of violence' by smacking a gay basher I laughed out loud. This was in the context of Iraq, as I recall.) Seeing Richard's gullibility with McCarthy made me question how good a judge he was with other sources, whether named or not.

But this blog impresses me: it shows a humor and quick analytical intelligence--the skepticism of an interesting person--I really didn't see in the book.
 
I agree, except on the book, and the subtle implication that Rich would be more "balanced" on Summers without the misleading of Tim McCarthy (these guys are good!). The book was great, the blog is great. Keep it up, Rich!
 
The book is great, considering that at the time you wrote it it was very difficult to gather information about what was going on at Harvard.

Haver you considered writing a sequel? 'Veritas'. On what really went on at Harvard over the last five years. People are a lot freer to speak up now. The Truth must be recorded before it is rewritten by Larry's friends in the WSJ.
 
The two books that exist already on this topic are very different.

Harvard Rules follows the Woodward tradition, but has no real 'deepthroat' to tell what was going on. Unless a sequel can get views from real insiders, and not just from West or Lewis, it will add little.

Excellence without a soul is more analytical, but lacks the journalistic zeal of HR. Depends too much on Lewis' opinions and personal experience.

Both are good and important books. Neither one sheds enough ligt on what was going on. Doing this might help Harvard come to grips with the underlying sources of the problem, which are not just about LS personality. But sheding Lux on Veritas will require finding serious deepthroats...
 
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