Goodman has a Good Ear for this Sort of Thing

The Internet Review of Books published a review of Setting the Family Free. The reviewer is a former journalist and author of a Boston art guide.

I share the good, I share the bad, I share them both and there you have ... reality. Readers of Writeful know that I don’t share only the good reviews. When the rare negative review rears its head, I share it. Although the reviewer did have some good things to say, such as "Goodman has a good ear for this sort of thing," I would consider it a negative review.

The reviewer’s first quarrel with the book: how does a man open the doors and cut holes in the dozens of wire cages in a reasonable amount of time. My answer, assuming one is wanted: my character, like the real person it was inspired by, just took the time and did it. Why did the animals not attack him? Because they were used to spending time with him as he often got in their cages. They didn’t think to attack their owner or at least didn’t act upon it. They considered him their alpha, their family.

I was surprised when the reviewer mentioned a leopard killed a television reporter, which did not happen and made me wonder whether the review is based on a read or a scan. The leopard killed a female police officer; the reporter was elsewhere.

Marty Carlock summarizes her review by professing to be a connoisseur of good writing, which she cannot define: “As the quote goes, you know it when you see it.” She says she didn’t see it from Eric C. Goodman.

Whew. For a moment, I though she was talking about the writing of Eric D. Goodman.

You can read her full review of Setting the Family Free at The Internet Review of Books.

http://internetreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2019/12/setting-family-free.html