[microsound] Caleb Kelly's "Cracked Media" - or: how not to write a book

[Tobias Reber]

I see. thanks for making it clear, the point is taken. ;-)

i by no means meant to suggest that I myself would be better at  
anything Kelly and his editor(s) and publisher attempt in this book,  
and I hope language difficulties have not made it look as if I did. ;-)
I applaud the attempt, regardless of the (in my opinion) many  
shortcomings.

and please note that if I had actually written my review with  
publication at a major publishing house in mind (and not very  
spontaneously and for freelance posting at a mailing list), I'd have  
actually read it through more thoroughly and, more to the point, sent  
it to literate english speaking friends and maybe professional proof- 
readers. and I guess I should have added that I will list the typos  
I've spotted and send them to MIT Press for correction in future  
editions, as I've done with books that I really loved.

but then, I have no idea what proof-reading of a book costs, or who is  
paying for it? maybe you could shed some light on this, or point me to  
some info as to how this is usually handled, especially within an  
academic/non-fiction context?

as I tried to say towards the end of my original posting (perhaps not  
clearly enough as I was really frustrated with the book - i'd only  
finished it today): apart from just criticizing the book I'd be very  
happy if this could start a discussion about how the topic of Cracked  
Media could be tackled (in book form) in a more successful way. What  
might be the interesting questions? How about an anthology with   
several contributors? etc.

tobias


Am 17.12.2009 um 00:45 schrieb John Hopkins:

>
>>>> Plus, the book is riddled with typos unlike any book i've ever  
>>>> read.
>>>
>>> is that people who live in glass houses should never throw stones...
>
> This adage means someone who is critiquing some one else's behavior  
> should be free of the defects they are critiquing.  Your critique  
> was full of typos (many that would be caught by any text-editing  
> software).
>
> But I'm not trying to be mean or anything -- I understand the (your)  
> problem of writing second-language texts -- as an editor, reading  
> any text full of typos is really annoying...  I more thought it  
> mildly amusing that you pointed that out given the condition of your  
> own text...
>
> I certainly am not interested in reading that book, thanks for the  
> insight ;-)
>
> cheers,
> jh
>

---

Tobias Reber : musician / sound designer

Tobias Reber
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