Has anyone noticed this?

LindsayP · Aug 17, 2006

I'm reading Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell and I noticed a huge mistake and was wondering if anyone else noticed it or am I just nuts?

The book is written in third person, POV of the three main characters. On page 294, it changes to first person for only one page then continues in third person. This change doesn't happen in dialogue or a dream or a flashback and there's no explaination for it.

Could this be a techinque I'm unaware of or is it just a huge mistake that got past the author, her assistant and her editor?

Has anyone else caught this?
Thanks!
Linday

Summonere · Aug 17, 2006

noots

I haven't read that work, nor anything by that author. I have, however, seen a James Patterson book in which something similar happens. In When the Wind Blows, first person is used for what is presumably the main character and third person is used for everyone else. In theory JP might have made this work if there had been a really good reason for it. There wasn't. It didn't work.

Therefore I imagine that, no, you are not nuts, but perhaps some of the authors are (instances of this are too numerous to cite, ha ha). Short of that, however, maybe the example you cited really was an oversight. Wouldn't be the first time. JP's, however, was deliberate.

maestrowork · Aug 17, 2006

In James Patterson's "Sam's Letter to Jennifer" there was a huge tense change in the prologue. I was astounded that neither he nor his editors caught that.

Goofs do happen in the publishing world.

expatbrat · Aug 17, 2006

LindsayP said:
I'm reading Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell and I noticed a huge mistake and was wondering if anyone else noticed it or am I just nuts?
Linday

Oooh - yeah... Candace Bushnell has another book out I haven't read. Is this a new one? Yeaaahhhhhh. Candace is fun. I can look past an error on page two hundred and whatever.

Gillhoughly · Aug 17, 2006

You might want to send a snail mail letter to the editor of the book or even the copy editor.

Addressing it (and I would suggest you be anonymous) to "The editor of (author)" then inform that person about what you see is a major goof. They might want to correct it for future printings.

I find it hard to believe something like that got through by accident since books are proofed a number of times before they go to print, but stranger things have happened.

gwendy85 · Aug 17, 2006

It may just be a technique. At least that book's only got a single page of the change. Try reading James Clavell's "King Rat" and see the many pages of jumping from third to first person. If you're not careful, you could get lost but the technique, I believe, was nicely done in this book, though I doubt I would do it myself.

blacbird · Aug 18, 2006

In Tony Hillerman's The Sinister Pig there's one egregious error in dialogue attribution that so confused the story it made me read the page three times before I figured out what was wrong. Coupled with a persistent misspelling of the name of a famous historical figure, I got so mad at the book that I tossed it in my "send to used-bookstore" pile without finishing it, and haven't had the heart to read subsequently published Hillermans. And I like his early stuff a great deal. It leaves me with the feeling that a famed author with a captured following can indeed publish almost anything, without hassling an editor.

caw.

LindsayP · Aug 18, 2006

Thanks everyone.
I think I'll write an anonymous snail mail letter to the editor.

It isn't the biggest deal, mistakes happen. I'll keep reading her work, for sure. But it's funny b/c because these agents and editors want our work to be so perfect and here's this huge, glaring error that made it past tons of editors.

Interesting.

brianm · Aug 18, 2006

I'm reading Arthur Hailey's "Hotel" right now. On page 48 he explains the hotel is coming awake and that it is 5 a.m. A few paragraphs later he talks about the switchboard operator making her first morning wake-up call followed by this line...

"The operator was Mrs. Eunice Ball, widow, grandmother, and tonight senior of three operators..."

HUH? It's five a.m.!

Uncarved · Aug 18, 2006

I'm reading, or trying to read, Beach Road by James patterson. There are 117 chapters all 2-3 pages long and the POV changes in Every Single One of Them. Its insanely bad to me.

Blondie22 · Aug 18, 2006

I'm trying to get through Beach Road as well. I actually gave up on it last week, which I almost NEVER do.

It's never a good sign when the author actually has to list all of the characters and their descriptions on the opening page. I was shocked such a well-known writer could be so lazy.

Summonere · Aug 18, 2006

brianm:

That’s because the hotel's switchboard operator is in India. Outsourcing.

Uncarved · Aug 18, 2006

I don't quit books but Beach Road is making me rethink that. I keep thinking how many rejections he'd get if he shopped it around under a pseudonym.

MMo · Aug 18, 2006

brianm said:
I'm reading Arthur Hailey's "Hotel" right now. On page 48 he explains the hotel is coming awake and that it is 5 a.m. A few paragraphs later he talks about the switchboard operator making her first morning wake-up call followed by this line...

"The operator was Mrs. Eunice Ball, widow, grandmother, and tonight senior of three operators..."

HUH? It's five a.m.!

And for those of you who have never done shift work, five a.m. is part of the "graveyard" or night shift. Day shift doesn't (usually) come on until seven a.m.

Mo

Shiraz · Aug 18, 2006

I caught three typos in "Water for Elephants" and told Sara about them. She was astounded that neither she, her proofreader or the editor caught either one of them and was hoping she could get the correction done before the next printing.

Not as interesting as a POV change, but still shows how things can slip past in the process.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

brianm said:
I'm reading Arthur Hailey's "Hotel" right now. On page 48 he explains the hotel is coming awake and that it is 5 a.m. A few paragraphs later he talks about the switchboard operator making her first morning wake-up call followed by this line...

"The operator was Mrs. Eunice Ball, widow, grandmother, and tonight senior of three operators..."

HUH? It's five a.m.!

That doesn't sound like an error. The question is really when that operator came on duty. If she came on at ten, eleven, or midnight, as most people still working at five would have, then "tonight" is the right word.

nicegrrl · Aug 18, 2006

LOL

LindsayP, I love Candace Bushnell- I must be the only person in the world that loves 4 blondes, but the woman cannot write a novel to save her life. I dont know her well, but I see her on occasion and she told me that her original draft would have been 1000 pages and filled with off shoots about the character's children and so on. She doesnt seem to have any concept of plot or attempting to make characters normal people can sympathize with. Not my problem though- I love her absolutely cold hearted characters. But seriously, her editors have their hands full with her since they know anything she publishes goes straight to the best seller list even though 90% of her readers dont even like her books, but she still has no concept of how to write a novel properly. I dont know if they missed the POV switch or they just didnt care being that Bushnell requires the most labor intensive editing they probably ever deal with.

nicegrrl · Aug 18, 2006

.

Come to think of it, I remember a rediculous WTF moment in Trading up as well, where Bushnell writes the entire novel in past tense except for 1 sentence where she says something how Roditzy would later break her leg and be caught in a scandal- this event is suppose to happen after the story of the novel ends.

With Bushnell, you just never know. Her editors let her break so many writing conventions that you cant even point out a mistake. Its like Miss America contests where girls play super avant guarde stuff so you cant hear their errors if they make them.

I get jealous, you know. She can switch POV however she wants whenever she wants. Headhopping is not a problem in her world. She doesnt need plots or characters you can identify with, she can have 300 minor characters and she barely fictionalizes the stuff she writes anyways. People regularly pick out who she is writing about. The best part is, its not even like she breaks rules to make some sort of cutting edge brilliant work. Its just plain bad structuring. But people still pick em up like hot cakes.

CaroGirl · Aug 18, 2006

Picking up hotcakes burns my fingers.

~Curtesy of the mixed metaphor police.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

Getting by

When you're the one responsible for "Sex and the City," you can get by with quite a bit. But Lord help me, the woman can't write a lick.

Risen_Flower · Aug 18, 2006

It isn't the biggest deal, mistakes happen. I'll keep reading her work, for sure. But it's funny b/c because these agents and editors want our work to be so perfect and here's this huge, glaring error that made it past tons of editors.

It is funny, because I am a reader, and I've read a lot of all sorts of books. And quite a few of the books I read had repeats of a word after another and I've even noted some misspells. I've read some where I really didn't know what character's head the author was in. It's not much inspiring to continue reading a book with such mistakes, but it does relieve my mind to let me know that just because a person writes or maybe even be a famous writer—this person is still human and humans make mistakes.

Lolly · Aug 19, 2006

MMo said:
And for those of you who have never done shift work, five a.m. is part of the "graveyard" or night shift. Day shift doesn't (usually) come on until seven a.m.

Mo

Good point. I used to work the overnight shift at a factory, and it lasted from 7 pm to 7 am. I also used to work for a 24-hour grocery store, and their overnight shift was from 10 pm to 7 am.

Horseshoes · Jul 31, 2007

The mistake thing is funny.
I read a novel where a woman plead guilty to murder, then for a large part of the book, her murder trial is given a lot of coverage.
Eh?

JoNightshade · Jul 31, 2007

I'm the kind of reader who gets stuck on one author and will read everything that this author has written all at once.

What I've noticed is that an author's earlier works are much more nicely edited. It's only later that I see typos, glaring inconsistencies, and just plain screwups. The only conclusion I can draw is that once an author becomes famous enough, people either assume they no longer need to be edited, or the author himself says "Screw you, I like it this way."

Elektra · Jul 31, 2007

I just bought a copy of...oh, I can't even remember the title. Anyway, it took me about five very confused flips between pages to realize that page #4 was actually from the book's sequel.

Has anyone noticed this?

LindsayP

Summonere

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

expatbrat

Look what we made:

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor

gwendy85

~Proudly Mestiza~

blacbird

LindsayP

brianm

Brian Boru

Uncarved

I aim to misbehave

Blondie22

Summonere

Uncarved

I aim to misbehave

MMo

Shiraz

New kid, be gentle!

Jamesaritchie

nicegrrl

nicegrrl

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Jamesaritchie

Risen_Flower

Lolly

Horseshoes

lisapreston.com

JoNightshade

has finally arrived

Elektra

Don't Call Me Sweetheart

Has anyone noticed this?

Fear the Death Ray

Look what we made:

Grumpy writer and editor

~*Proudly Mestiza*~

Brian Boru

I aim to misbehave

I aim to misbehave

New kid, be gentle!

Living the dream

lisapreston.com

has finally arrived

Don't Call Me Sweetheart

~Proudly Mestiza~