As promised, here's the actual rejection I got from the Iowa Review. It's hard to be disgruntled when the fiction judge doesn't choose your story from "a small group of finalists" for the Iowa Review Fiction Award, but I'll tell you, it's not impossible. Remember last spring when everyone (even Oprah) was talking about the book, The Secret, which posited that if you just think positively, you can make your dreams come true? Well, I was so desperate that I gave it a try by sending positive energy out to the universe and to the judge Yiyun Li. I even slept with the finalist notification under my pillow and tried to doze positively all night long. As it turns out, The Secret is one of the worst books I never read. BTW, though, one of the best short story collections I've read recently is Yiyun Li's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. Even though she didn't pick me, you should read her book; it's really good.Monday, April 7, 2008
Yiyun Li -- Judge Not My Secret
As promised, here's the actual rejection I got from the Iowa Review. It's hard to be disgruntled when the fiction judge doesn't choose your story from "a small group of finalists" for the Iowa Review Fiction Award, but I'll tell you, it's not impossible. Remember last spring when everyone (even Oprah) was talking about the book, The Secret, which posited that if you just think positively, you can make your dreams come true? Well, I was so desperate that I gave it a try by sending positive energy out to the universe and to the judge Yiyun Li. I even slept with the finalist notification under my pillow and tried to doze positively all night long. As it turns out, The Secret is one of the worst books I never read. BTW, though, one of the best short story collections I've read recently is Yiyun Li's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. Even though she didn't pick me, you should read her book; it's really good.
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6 comments:
ever see the snl sketch where oprah sends copies 'the secret' to africa so starving people can start wishing for food? that pretty much summed up the book's bs to me....
"I even slept with the finalist notification" - this might be where you went wrong. Finalist notifications are notoriously caddish - they'll sleep with you and promise you all sorts of glory in return, but the next day you get to see how fickle they really are.
I feel so dirty.
that's ok, wr, we'll still respect you in the morning.
to hell with sleeping with the notification, why didn't you try sleeping with the judge? it's worth a try.
but also, congrats on making it to the finals. you have good reason to keep your head up high.
Ah, you're nice.
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