Mr. Gladwell, Outlier--and the making of bad puns in rejection notes

There's an excellent function of Gmail that has saved me on many an occasion: the Undo (undo-send, that is) button.

I was composing a note to a writer about her style--which was a bit too journalistic. It isn't my preference, I wrote, but, then again, Mr. Gladwell seems to get away with a rather journalistic style just fine. (He is, of course, an Outlier...har har. Many apologies--too much caffeine this morning.) 


I think it reasonably important to appear reasonably professional--I generally refer to those obviously over fifty as Mr./Ms.--and no one wants to be rejected by a maker of bad puns.

That said, I'm continually annoyed when I see that Gladwell's ("Mr." purposely left off) still on the bestseller list. Really? Really? I found Outliers predictable--his conclusions are obvious pages before he makes them--and, though I tossed it out before finishing it, other writers have noted that he doesn't use a single female example of genius.

You'd think I'd have some sympathy for him--after all, he has my hair type, and I generally like those who also have wild curls--but no. Not at all.

Next time I see his name on the bestseller list, I'm going to *blink*, make a smart and quick and predictable decision, and be certain that section of the paper finds its tipping point into the trash bin below.