Anne Rice on Amazon

Did Anne Rice really post an angry, rambling message on Amazon slamming those who have written negative reviews of her latest book, Blood Canticle?
The post in question (you may need to scroll down a bit to find it... it's the one posted by 'Anne Obrien Rice') appeared on Sep. 6, and it truly is a piece of work. It starts off by denouncing the "sheer outrageous stupidity" of the negative reviews, then informs the reviewers that they're simply projecting their own limitations onto her work, and ends up assuring them of the "utter contempt" she feels for them. Oh, and the message also challenges anyone who doesn't like the book to send it to her home (she provides a New Orleans street address) in order to get a full refund. The rant is so bizarre that many have questioned whether it really was posted by Anne Rice herself, or simply by someone with the same name as her. And it does seem odd that someone as successful as Anne Rice would care that much about a few cranky critics on Amazon. But rest assured, the message was definitely posted by Anne Rice herself. The proof is that Anne Rice discusses the message on her personal website and repeats the money-refund offer. Apparently Rice's message was removed from Amazon for a while, but it looks like it's back up there. As for what could have possessed her to go off like that, this article in the Toronto Star notes that "the death of her husband Stan while she was writing Blood Canticle seems to have hit her hard."

Literature/Language

Posted on Tue Sep 28, 2004



Comments

One other item of note - Rice hasn't lived at the address she gave for returns since the beginning of this year, and according to Neil Gaiman - http://www.livejournal.com/users/officialgaiman/149005.html - books sent to her for refunds are being returned to sender.
Posted by The Hermit  on  Tue Sep 28, 2004  at  03:42 PM
I'm kind of tempted to go out and buy her book just so that I can send it to her and see if I get any money back. It would be kind of cool to have a check from Anne Rice.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Tue Sep 28, 2004  at  05:10 PM
Didn't Courtney Love do something similar a little while ago?
Posted by Ariel  on  Tue Sep 28, 2004  at  05:47 PM
This masterpiece is a work of art. It is a rainbow for your ears. Absolute Poetry.
Posted by john  on  Tue Sep 28, 2004  at  07:45 PM
:blank: Is this offer open for the rest of the books!!!
Posted by pat  on  Wed Sep 29, 2004  at  01:40 AM
In this author's opinion, I think launching some poetic bash against negative criticism is incredibly unprofessional. If the comments were idiotic, then ignore them. If the comments are supported with points, then consider them and find something constructive in it to build up your writing.
Posted by FlakPatchHeat  on  Wed Sep 29, 2004  at  03:14 PM
The woman should be careful. If she ticks too many people off she'll lose her fan base. I mean she writes about vampires. Vampires really just suck blood & live for a long time. She's going to run out of material soon. She should save her assinine diatribe for that. I guess she could always move on to children's stories...
"Lestat's Day at the Beach"
"Vampire's Day Out"
"Everybody Sucks!" (A sucking story for trainers...just like Everybody Poops...)
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Sep 30, 2004  at  11:51 AM
I don't care much for her writing but obviously Maegan hasn't read the books. The whole twist to Rice's Vampire tales is that there is more to being a Vampire than sucking blood and being immortal.
Posted by Shamus  on  Wed Nov 24, 2004  at  05:23 AM
Yes, unprofessional...but then it can't be incredibly inspiring as an author to read review after review saying that you're losing your touch with the world, and many other insults from a menagerie of people who would probably find it hard to even -complete- a novel, let alone write one worth reading.

Constructive criticism is one thing, but after all she had been through at that time...pure criticism is hardly an uplift?
Posted by Aiana Xialla  on  Wed Aug 24, 2005  at  09:20 AM
The woman is a complete and utter weirdo. Who would even try to say religion and vampires go hand in hand? She has dedicated her life to God and swears never to write another vampire book, yet she won't denounce her earlier books - why? Big fat royalty cheques, that's why. God doesn't mean THAT much to her. I have never hated a writer as much as I hate this woman - she's got illusions of grandeur, talks balls, writes balls and worse than that - she can't even SEE that she writes balls. Idiot.
Posted by andrea  on  Wed Aug 19, 2009  at  04:12 AM
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