twenty dollar words

[Rose]

Do you think authors lose a lot of their readers by using obscure words that the average reader does not know?

Is it proper for an author to describe his scenes by saying it was like a scene from someone else’s book, using someone else’s work in setting up a moment or description instead of putting his own effort into the moment? “This is what I feel and it is like..” not “I feel like such and such in..” Just seems as if McManus cannot simply say what he is feeling. It is hard enough to get a feeling across to the reader with your own thoughts let alone relying on them reading something else work and having the same reaction you had in order to understand what you are trying to say. It is like emotions twice removed and to me is lazy.