 |
| Barb Polan Barb’s Recovery |
Since I published my book, Stroke After Stroke: A Rower’s Pilgrimage, on Amazon in September, I have checked the sales numbers every day – to one site for the number of Kindle editions, and a second site for the number of printed copies. I made it easy to do so by bookmarking the sites on the pages I needed. It eventually dawned on me that perhaps checking hourly was a little overkill, so I asked my older sister if she had done the same after publishing 2 novels the same way. Beth replied that she had at first, but then had shifted to closely watching for new Amazon reviews.
So I started checking the reviews. The first three were, not surprisingly, five-star reviews – one each by Beth, an old (sorry, Roland!) friend /former co-worker, and a stroke survivor I frequently correspond with who has been a staunch cheerleader. Then a new 5-star review appeared – by a stroke survivor who is a total stranger. Now, I love my sister and friends, but a 5-star review from a stranger who called my book a “must read” for other survivors, was precious to me.
Peter Levine (whom I’ve mentioned before as a well-respected stroke recovery guru in the stroke survivor community,) is the author of Stronger After Stroke: Your Roadmap to Recovery, a virtual bible for stroke survivors, and the blogger at recoverfromstroke.blogspot.com. In addition, Levine teaches seminars for physical/occupational therapists and anyone else interested in his topics.
To get to my point, when I went to my Amazon review site one day last week, there was a review by Peter Levine, who had rated it 5 stars:
“This may be hard to believe but... This book, about stroke recovery is delightful. It is a story of one woman's adventure as she faces the world with her new found disabilities. This is an author who loves to write which helps her not only tell the story of her recovery, and make that story compelling, but also interweave her spin on the latest and neuroscience and treatment options. A great fun book.”
| Full disclosure: Peter and I don’t really know each other, but I did attend two seminars of his (“Neuroplasticity” and “Spasticity”) when he presented them in Boston, and we corresponded a bit when I once took exception to a statement in his book. I read his blog, but am not under the delusion that he reads mine. And, because of his influence in the community, once my book was available, I sent him a copy. |
Although I was thrilled that Peter had reviewed it (and had given it 5 stars), I felt a little affronted by his statement that it was “delightful.”
Here it is: if I had made a list of all the adjectives that might have been used with my book, “delightful” would have been near the bottom, because I understood it to mean inconsequential.
My intention was to write an inspirational, no-nonsense book about the serious stuff a stroke survivor with hemiparesis might undergo. I wanted it to be a quick read so that any survivor could make it through, and a book of substance, so that it could help with any existential crisis that might have been caused by the stroke. Sure, here are some light-hearted moments in it (as there are in my life), but, seriously, there are many places where the reader is supposed to cry.
Of course, I also wanted it to be “compelling,” as Peter labeled it.
But “delightful,” really?
Miriam-Webster, though, defines “delightful” as “wholly pleasing,” and another online source said “charming.” What author doesn’t want her book to be charming and wholly pleasing?
So I’ve started liking the word.
In fact, I’m absolutely delighted that Peter called it that.
Another chance for those out there in the blogosphere who haven’t yet purchased my book:
As usual, the Kindle costs $4 and the paperback is $8.
See the original article:
in
No comments:
Post a Comment