I have been reading a memoir reviewed in what I thought were trustworthy columns as “mesmerizing,” “enthralling,” “incisive,” “illuminating,” and “revelatory.” Meanwhile I have been raving to my poor husband “this book needs an editor!” I have come to expect that many self-published books could have used a good editor, but this was put out by a mainstream publishing house. The author even thanks two editors. I think they were overpaid.
I am not naming the book in question, but rather using it as an example of the importance of knowledgeable editors seriously helping authors shape and refine their work. The book’s concept did in fact promise to deliver the adjectives reviewers used to describe it. Sadly, the actual execution left much to be desired. Perhaps the reviewers read only the book jacket.
James Dickey, the late American poet, said that he “worked on poems to take the worked-on quality out of them.” The finished piece might look effortless, but much revision had taken place to achieve that effect. A good editor can wrestle a meandering book into a coherent whole. When a book has been well edited, the reader no longer has to labor to follow the narrative, but can use her mind to ponder the issues presented.
I used to tell my students that if they had to work too hard to follow an author’s work, the blame might lay with the author. My students always assumed they were deficient in some way. The next time any of you throw down a book in disgust, consider that it might have needed an editor. And that editor shouldn’t have to be the reader!
Saved By Words 
That is a great quote by James Dickey!
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I have always remembered it since I first heard him in an interview.
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Thanks for saying what I have occasionally felt.
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You’re welcome.
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Oh, sometimes I encounter some books with grammatical errors and some words are misspelled too.
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I think sometimes they use spell check which won’t correct words that are spelled correctly but are the wrong words.
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I agree, Elizabeth. I have always worked very hard on editing my books and I can see the improvement between my first book, While the Bombs Fell and my latest novel. I have read up and studied writing and read the books of writers I admire, looking specifically at how they put their descriptions and prose together. Writing is a life long learning adventure.
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I don’t know that much about writing, but I do know that the failure to edit is like driving a car without a steering wheel.
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Absolutely.
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I don’t presume to know enough about publishing that I would ever go ahead without first paying an experienced editor.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You know better than some.
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It wouldn’t, by any chance, have been a celebrity biography?
Even so, there’s no excuse for a publisher not to get it properly produced. I have heard that corners are cut now they’re having to compete with a mass of cheaper, self-published work.
Perhaps the “mesmerizing,” “enthralling,” “illuminating,” and “revelatory” reviews were referring to the fact that it got published at all in that state.
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Sadly it was not a celebrity book. That I might have expected. It was on a serious topic and worth reading if better edited.
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I’ve read a great many of the books you are referring to!
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I felt like hurling this one across the room.
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Nice post. I’ve noticed a drop in quality of editing as well. It’s so distracting to the reader to have to fix a sentence or correct a misspelled word in one’s mind. It pulls you out of the story!
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Exactly.
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I wonder if part of the problem is that so many books are self-published these days. But that wouldn’t have explained my problem plodding through Henry James.
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Good point. At least with James I could identify the issue–usually me!
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I am always surprised when a ‘bad’ book is accepted by a major publishing house. Yes, where was the editor? Unfortunately I see this frequently in children’s books. A good editor is worth her/his weight in gold.
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I didn’t realize it affected kids’ books too.
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Very much so!
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Yikes. My poor 13 year old granddaughter is very frustrated that all the books now are about “issues.” She told me she has enough issues to deal with with covid and just wants a good story.
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I agree! It seems that publishers want to jump on the bandwagon of whatever is popular, particularly issues. I highly recommend Kate DiCamillo and her Newbery winner, “The Tale of Despereaux”. “Bob” has been the favorite of my library reading group. I guarantee she will love these two books; they’re just great stories! If you want more, let me know.
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Thank you very much. When she runs out of books I will ask.
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You’re welcome, Elizabeth. Yes, please ask.
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Will do.
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🙂
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“Sadly, the actual execution left much to be desired. Perhaps the reviewers read only the book jacket.”
This cracked me up 😂🤣
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Glad you get my humor. Sometimes it escapes people.
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