I’m a slow reader. A two-day read is rare for me (though in the past couple of years, it seems MacAdam/Cage has provided a disproportionate percentage of books that hijack my daily life that way).

I’m also (shock!) an aspiring writer still struggling with rewrites and edits, and I appreciate Pat’s insights. While it’s hard for me to believe any one writer could make all the mistakes he describes, I’ll bet he could show some examples to prove it. And no matter how smart, I’ll bet every fiction writer has made, at one time or other, at least a third of the boners described so far.

I knew who Pat was before starting the book, MacAdam/Cage is on my short list of slushpiles when I get my ms ‘finished’ enough to peddle. Since I can still come up with more than 78 repairs my book needs, I won’t waste an intern’s few seconds.

I see MacAdam/Cage as a sort of Blue Note Records for contemporary fiction. You’d be hard pressed to find a reader who loves everything they publish, but you’ve got a way better than average chance that the MacAdam/Cage colophon means your reading time (and the cover price) won’t be a regret. Since I think highly of the publishing house and have literary ambitions, I couldn’t ‘not’ read Pat’s book.

For anyone eager to get into the get-poor-quick scheme of writing novels, don’t pass up Pat’s book.