August 2007 (cont.)

We also found that many readers, offended or not, couldn’t leave the stories behind once they put the book down. One wrote me to say, “It’s so blindingly true, it practically kills me.”

And my editor said to me with a bit of a sigh when we discussed the reviews, “Well, Marion, you’ve always been ahead of your time.” The problem with a book that is “ahead of its time” is that it gets lost. Few readers will ever know about it, whether they are ready for it or not.

I have been writing for a long time. I am tempted to say a “long, long time.” Reviews these days often refer to me as “veteran author, Bauer.” And I’ve learned that when a book, however much loved, isn’t received as we had hoped, the only answer is to move on to the next project. And yet I cannot insulate myself against the desire to follow it into the world, protecting it, explaining it, holding it out with a hopeful smile.

Everyone has a right to an opinion, of course. That’s what reviews are about, opinions. And I certainly don’t love everything I read. I recently purchased a book a friend had said was “stunning” and couldn’t make my way past the opening pages.

But, though I’m still writing and expect to continue to do so for many years, I also find myself looking back, gathering my own review of my own work.