But why would you rate and review a book you haven't even read?

Ditto that. No one will/can force you to read it, but how can you rate something based on the back cover??

Exactly this, don't read it if you don't want to, but why would you offer a negative review based on a cover? Nonsense.

Who cares! This made Jenny's day - "I wonder if I could add that to the quotes on the soft cover version? Because it's kind of awesome. PERFECT FOR BOOK BURNINGS." Or so says her Twitter :D

I have no problem with your comments, just wondering if you want to send the book my way. Like you said, the book wasn't for you, but I hate to see books sit on shelves unread.

You rated a book...without reading it? I'm afraid I'm a bit confused on this one, but hey, whatever.

That's like browsing at a book store & declining it. Probably shouldn't review it & file it under 'read'.

If it's not for you, put it down and walk away. Leave it for the rest of us heathens to enjoy.

Ok peeps, lay off. Jenny would not like to see you badgering this reviewer.

I'd be happy to take it off your hands too, so it doesn't offend you any more. ;-)

Tell ya what: I give you my address and you mail me the book.

can i have it???

While you can't judge a book by its cover, you can apparently judge a book by its back cover. Good to know.

Lighten up, get perspective and a sense of humor.

Really? You gave the book a bad review and the only thing you read was the back cover? Are you kidding me?
I have to say, if nothing else, your review only makes people want to read the book even more.
Oh, and also hurts your credibility very much. Who in the heck gives a book a bad review without even reading it?? You're acting like the child who says he hates carrots but have never even tasted one. You know what grownups usually tell kids like that?
You don't like it, so you say. Try it, try it, and you may. Try it, and you may, I say.
By the way, you should read that book. It's called "Green Eggs and Ham" and you may like it. Who knows, it might inspire you to actually try things before you say you don't like them.

Why write a review if the cover did not interest you? This would be like going to a book store reading the cover of a book and then going home and writing something bad. If you did not purchase the book and received it because of a contest or review thing or whatever and the cover does not interest you then give it away, swap it at a book swap whatever. Without reading the book your opinion is invalid.

I am sincerely puzzled. Not liking a book for its content is certainly a subjective exercise, but judging the book by its cover (and the back cover, no less) is no exercise at all. You seem to be a person of good conscience, or at least conscientious of your goodness, why would you do such a selfish thing and provide a poor rating to something of which, by your own admission, you are willfully ignorant?

Dear People of Goodreads,

Calm down. One 1 star review is not going to impact sales. Deb (like all of us) has the right to rate and review a book based on any criteria she likes. Jenny Lawson thought it was funny, take a cue from her.

You know who else burned books? The Nazis! Clearly this book is radical, subversive, and may cause uncontrollable laughter. DANGER! Can I have your copy?

Whew! I've never had a review that stirred up so much talk.

I stand on my rights as a reader to review a book and rate a book any way I wish. I would urge those of you who seem to think I'm advocating book burning, however, to read my review again.

I wish I could send this book along to those of you who eagerly want to read it, but I've already passed it along.

That's kind of what I'm thinking.

When I was a kid, I was totally freaked out when the Beatles' "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy came to light. Kudos to you for seeking the irrefutable truth. How can anyone truly appreciate the *real* message within its covers if we don't read it BACKWARDS??

For all we know, one of the pages may contain something like:

TNEDISERP ROF NOSWAL "SSEGOLB EHT" YNNEJ


Thank you for your willingness to sacrifice your credibility in the name of judgment, Ecnan Bed.

Oreh Ym Er'uoy.

My goodness. Perhaps, in the future, in your mindless greedy-grubbing for freebies you'll take the time to actually learn something about the books you're requesting? I know dozens of people, myself included, who would have loved to have an advance copy of this book. Instead, it went to you.

So, um, the author specifically pointed out this review in her blog/etc because she was "amused" by it and wanted her fans to go and ... what? Wow. While I had never even heard of the book before this, the reactions of the fans make me not want to read the book at all. You guys may be doing Jenny Lawson more harm than you think.

Jesus Christ. Are you seven years old? Your DAD would wash your mouth out with soap? And yeah....you LITERALLY judged a book by its cover. Way to go.

I'm with Nafiza. Who cares how one person rated this book? All of you people are clearly still going to read it. All of The Blogess' fans are still going to read it. She's not some unknown. Let's all just move on.

I feel sad that you will never understand the correlation between twine and a spatula.

Nafiza wrote: "So, um, the author specifically pointed out this review in her blog/etc because she was "amused" by it and wanted her fans to go and ... what? Wow. While I had never even heard of the book before t..."

Nafiza, the author tweeted because she found the review amusing. She is a funny lady who passes on funny things all the time. I am sure she did not expect the reviewer to receive the backlash that she did.

Really? your parents would still punish you for your reading habits. oh honey. Maybe you all should have "the talk?" You're a grown up now! You can read whatever you want.

I think you should have every right to rate books however you want...but why rate it if you haven't read it?

Sarah (and others who brought this to my attention): I thought about it, and decided that I agree with you; I removed my rating from this review.

Thank you to all who commented here. I've read and thought about every comment. If you will give me a second, I'll turn so you can get a good shot at my other cheek.

Everyone is right who said she wouldn't want people to go after this reviewer. Let's stay positive. PS: Corey LOVE your comment, lol! Can't wait to get my copy. Hubby pre-ordered one like a month ago!

I'll gladly paypal you the cost of the shipping and you can send it to me. Deal?

Corey wrote: "I feel sad that you will never understand the correlation between twine and a spatula."

That is my one regret of not reading this book.

"Thank you to all who commented here. I've read and thought about every comment. If you will give me a second, I'll turn so you can get a good shot at my other cheek."
I think it's funny you say this. What do you call what you did? You insulted a book (and its author) without even knowing a thing about any of them. You judged the book without reading it. Do you really think it's fair to give the book you have not read a terrible review? You can say you don't want to read it, that's completely fine, but then don't rate it. By giving it one star you're saying you didn't like the book, but you can't say that, because you haven't read it. It's not your type of book, fine, but you don't know the book's content well enough to rate it. It's as if someone would judge you based on your first name or your favorite color.
Next time, if you didn't read the book, leave a comment with your opinion, but don't review or rate it.

Lay off everyone, OP removed her rating, and she's got the right to not read a book if she wants!

But, I am curious - how did you end up ordering the book? I figure you can't have come across it through The Bloggess herself or you'd have expected her (hilariously) foul-mouthed sacrilege.

I think everyone agrees that she has every right not to read it if it offends her sensibilities, but the point most people were making was that if you haven't read it, it's not fair to rate it.

That being said, I'm glad the review was removed.

Calling yourself a "reader" of this book is an exaggeration. I agree with everyone who thinks it's absurd to review a book you haven't read. It's also kind of pointless. I pick up books all of the time that I decide not to read. That's not the same as reading the book. You are a non-reader of this book and the idea that you reviewed it anyway is a tad strange. You basically reviewed a blurb.

Deb, I don't know much about this book apart from these reviews. Can you please explain what was the problem with it?

Beeflie wrote: "Deb, I don't know much about this book apart from these reviews. Can you please explain what was the problem with it?"

Beeflie, it is just not my kind of read. You might want to check out others' thoughts on this book.

Wait was this really a giveaway? Thanks for taking it away from people who actually wanted it and knew what it was about. Requesting books willy nilly is like stealing. Please, in the future don't hog stuff you don't want. It's just rude. Personally, if someone doesn't think this is funny, there's something seriously effin' wrong with them.

Ps I do appreciate the removal of the rating. I only rate things I've finished reading.

The twine and spatula are far too recent to make it into the book. You can go to her blog to enjoy that!

will you send your copy to me, then?

I understand your trepidation in reading it, but this is a book review section and you have no review. If you haven't read the book, then how can you review it?

Don't despair. It's not even funny so you didn't miss a lot.

Good for you for being willing to stand up for your beliefs. Way to take all the abuse heaped upon you by random people. It was a funny book, but pretty offensive in places and I agree that the back cover has an offensive blurb.

Thank you, Kris.

Here's a hint: always read the blurbs on the back of the book first. If you had, you'd have known not to pick it up. I love it, but it is edgy. A person should not go in unaware.