Painful Reviews

By Mr. Eleven Something.

I had always enjoyed the fillers in between articles in Reader's Digest. This is one of my favorites. Taken from Reader's Digest, March 1992.

Critics's Corner

From a book review: "This is yet another fine example of what is wrong with the publishing industry: turning what would have been very good magazine articles into not very good books."
- Joe Queenan in the American Spectator

In a review of a restaurant: "It would have been faster to walk to the supermarket, buy lettucem rinse it in the bathroom sink, mash the anchovies with the dull end of a pen and grate the Parmesan against the table leg than get a Ceasar salad on a busy weekday."
- Bryan Miller in New York Times

About a TV program: "This show has an exceptionally hollow core. If this were a tree, dozens of endangered species could build lifesaving nests in its center, with room left to set up a magazine stand."
-David Hinckley in New York Times

Coup De Grace for an author: "He's written a number of children's books - but not on purpose."
-Quoted in "Kup's Column" in Chicago Sun-times