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Dear Friends and Supporters:
I am writing this open letter to you in response to the "review" posted
on this list by Megan Tichy and to let you know about a series of attacks on
my new book, The Gluten-Free Bible. These, as many of you may have seen,
appeared as negative reviews on the Amazon website by a small faction of Delphi
Forums members bent on smearing my work and my reputation. Because the
phrasing of Ms. Tichy's recent communique is almost eerie in its similarity to these
other reviews, I felt it was time to tell you what I know of this story.
Just after the book's publication and wonderful receptions in
Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D.C., I went to my Amazon page (as all nervous
authors do) to see what readers were saying. There I discovered several
surprisingly mean-spirited "reviews," all focusing around one paragraph and one page
of an entire book, taken out of context, about eating the filling of a
sandwich. Naturally, I was crushed and badly hurt, but I was also suspicious. A
few of these sounded as if the same person had written them, or there had been
a discussion of some previously agreed-upon position. Even the punctuation
was the same.
Meanwhile, the congratulatory cards and e-mails started coming in,
followed by laudatory reviews. As soon as the kudos went up on Amazon, more
pernicious reviews appeared. Again, they sounded strangely alike. I would later
learn that some of the same people had merely used different names. At
this point, all I knew was that someone was watching my page with the intention
of sabotaging it.
I wrote to a small group of celiac business and group leaders and
physicians who had contributed to the book to let them know what was going on and
was flooded with messages expressing shock and outrage at the nastiness of some.
A few days later, a well known celiac, disgusted at what was going on,
wrote to say he'd done some sleuthing and had discovered the shocking proof. He
sent me an e-mail with a link to Delphi Forums, and there I saw it for myself.
The above-mentioned Delphites were having an on-line conversation with
fellow members, clearly encouraging them to post negative reviews about a book,
as far as I could make out, only one had read and coaching them on how to
gain access to Amazon's free preview feature in order to see a few pages of The
Gluten-Free Bible. One Granby, Quebec restaurant owner, author of one of the
savage reviews, asked the group if her restaurant was listed in my book. It
is. Clearly she'd never seen it. They further discussed bombarding my
Amazon page with more bad reviews (after seeing the good ones go up), and coached
people on how to write and promote negative reviews that would get showcased.
They instructed members on how to click helpful on the ones they wanted to
bubble up to the top of the list and not helpful on any positive review.
They voted on the review they most wanted to showcase and encouraged members to
click on that one. The winner preened in the ensuing flattery. Included in
this chat, were personal attacks, threats to take my book off library shelves,
and to go to other book sites and trash other titles of mine. There were
unkind comments about my deceased parents.
From what I could gather, an important source of this group's fury
concerned something I said in the section on Catholic Communion, but was addressed
in none of the Amazon reviews. In particular, they were offended by a story
I told about feeding the wafer to the birds out of my love for St. Francis and
his affection for all God's creatures. For the record, I am a good and
devout Catholic who has found much comfort and joy in her religion without taking
the church sanctioned host (except for one funny occasion also described in
the book), which contains a tiny amount of wheat. I have told that same story
to many of my friends in the clergy who find it charming and certainly not
blasphemous. It's ironic that one of the Delphi posters involved in this
decidedly un-Christian activity is the contact for the Catholic Celiac Society.
Difficult as it was, I read every one of these chats, made a copy of
each, put them in a file and sent this proof (along with my shock and
disappointment) to my publisher. As plainly as I can tell you without discussing legal
matters that may be still pending, there is no mystery as to why the worst of
these so-called "reviews" are disappearing, as Ms. Tichy asked in her post to
this list. They are disappearing in response to clear and compelling
evidence that a group of people are conspiring to destroy a book and sully its
author's reputation.
No author alive expects everyone to agree with his or her opinion and I
am no exception. The way to disagree with a book is not to buy it, not to
launch a vicious assault. I am the first one to say that my irreverent take on
life as a celiac is not for everyone. I write for those of you who see the
humor in adversity, those who can separate opinion from fact, and for those of
you who want to get on with your lives in the healthiest way possible,,
emotionally, as well as physically. It's easy to take my humor out of context as
these Delphi denizens have done. Also easy to manipulate good people with
incendiary comments, to strike fear in those whose worst nightmare is getting
sick again. As with Against The Grain and No More Cupcakes & Tummy Aches, I
offer The Gluten-Free Bibleas a gift to my gluten-challenged friends, the sum of
twenty-five happy and healthy years as a celiac.
It's true there have been problems with the status of prescription
drugs, most likely because some lines were scanned incorrectly. I apologize for
any inconvenience this may have caused. This will be corrected in a future
printing. In the meantime, the point of that chapter (as well as many others)
is Things Change! Always, always, verify with the company that makes your
drugs. I do, every single time. The book is designed to help you become your
best resource and to point the way to the ongoing and fluid information found
in constantly updated lists. All these resources are in a section called
Learn More at the end of every chapter or in the resource guide at the end of
the book.
It's just ridiculous to eat something glutenous because a hostess served
it. It's not wise to eat the middle of a sandwich unless you are in danger
of starving and have absolutely no other choice and know there is absolutely
nothing clinging to it. Common sense is the key here. I suggest you carry
your own crackers to parties and do as I do, make a little plate for yourself
and get to the dips early before they get "crumby." I do not sanction
cheating, but I believe in talking about the temptation some, especially those
diagnosed with few symptoms, will experience. If there's a spelling error in the
book (glutenous is a deliberate play on the word gluten, not an error) -- mea
culpa. Nobody's perfect, not even professional copy editors.
I believe there is much to recommend The Gluten-Free Bible. Unique to
this book are glorious gluten-free recipes from celebrity chefs, valuable
information on associated conditions, edited by leading medical experts, with a
discussion on how each is diagnosed and by whom. There is an overview on
childhood celiac disease written by the eminent pediatric gastroenterologist,
Michelle Pietzak of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, lots of sound and unusual
advice for parents and important information on CD and fertility and
pregnancy. I've researched and listed some of the most celiac savvy doctors in
America, and had dining cards professionally translated into Swahili, Thai and
Arabic, among many other languages. There are G/F restaurants, resorts, travel
companies and B and B's both here and abroad and a comprehensive list of some of
the best gluten-free products and companies on the planet. There is good
solid thinking on what it takes to live and eat
well, entertain and travel, and reclaim your health, as well as your joy of
life. There is no dogma, no party line, no agenda. The Gluten-Free Bible
was written with love and only the best of intentions, in service to my fellow
celiacs. And yes, you do need an active funny bone to appreciate it.
As for me, I am deeply saddened by the treatment I have received at the
hands of a malicious few, but I am still profoundly committed to all of you.
I assure you I have not lost my sense of humor. To all my supporters who
have written praise and encouragement, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I won't comment again on this distasteful matter, except to say that ours
is a community of many voices, many styles, and that there is room for all of
us, even those who take the narrow view.
If you wish to write to me, please do so directly to avoid clogging up
this list. In the meantime, I wish you good health and a great summer.
Always take more than less and always consider the source of your information as
carefully as what's on your plate.
Sincerely,
Jax Peters Lowell
* Please carefully compose your subject lines in all posts *
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