What to Do When the Vitriol Comes for You

By Blair Glaser

Though she knew better, memoirist Suzanne Roberts (Animal Bodies; Bad Tourist) bit into the forbidden apple of Goodreads reviews. In a resultant Facebook post, she shared how she dealt with the “cesspool of not-so-nice things” readers had to say: she took one particularly egregious insult and made it into a mug. She now enjoys her morning coffee in a cup labeled Self-righteous Slut.

I call that move humor judo: transmuting the negative energy of your opponent by owning t...