Got a call from an author whose book I trashed on amazon in a review.

[Papa Deuce]

This review goes back like 7 years, maybe? It was a book on BBQ, and while it did have a few good recipes, I trashed it for a ton of reasons.

It was not proofread.

It had glaring errors in ingredients. In one case the recipe called for a full jar of a particular hot sauce you may have heard of called Pick- A- Pepper..... Well, they, at that time, had 2 varieties of sauce.... one was red, and had some heat from hot peppers. The other was brown, and was a tamarind based sauce, with no heat at all. I mentioned that it would be terrible to use an entire jar of the wrong sauce, as they were so different that if you did use the wrong one, you would likely ruin the BBQ.

And, it was mostly recipes for crowds of 100 people or more, but was not presented as such on amazon.... I guess he just thought people would scale it down to size on their own?

He called me years ago, and didn't leave a message, but I recognized the name on the caller ID.

This time he called and left a message and a phone number to call him back.

The only thing I could think of why he might call me again after all these years is to proofread a new book.... but who knows, and he didn't say why on my answering machine. I don't think I will be calling him back as it feels pretty creepy to be "stalked" by an author from a review written so many years ago.

[Gregg]

Are you kidding! You have got to call him back!

He already has your phone number, so he has your address. You might as well find out what's up.

[revo]

That's pretty bizarre. Maybe he watched the movie 'Chef' and wants to go into business with you.

[Papa Deuce]

Here is the original review. I thought I had trashed it far worse than I did. And, LOL, I have my own fair share of errors in the review, but I didn't write a book.

This is my first review of any book at all. I have chosen to write this becuase I have never been as disappointed with a book as I have with this one.
From page 1 you realize that this book is written by someone other than a professional writer. That can be good or bad. In this case it is bad... very bad. Yes, the writer has experience in winning BBQ awards, though not very recently if you read his list of awards won, and even many of those were not first or second place. That is OK, but what is not OK is that this book is written with a tremendous amount of grammatical errors which should have been caught by a proofreader.
Also the book frequently has recipes for very large sized parties and not you average backyard BBQ. But what really bothered me the most is that the writer in several instances could mislead you by not giving you all the information you need to make good "Q".
For instance, in one recipe the writer uses "Pick-a-Peppa" sauce. Well that is all fine and dandy excpet that there is a brown version of that sauce and a red version of that sauce and they are ENTIRELY different in flavor. One could not be substituted for the other without adversely affecting four end product. And, if I remember correctly, the recipe calls for a WHOLE BOTTLE of sauce... Gee, I'ld hate to use the wrong color sauce. I could go on and on.
There are a few recipes worth checking out. And some good background info on making good "Q", but you would be far better served by finding another book, and so would your guests.

[Midnight Otter]

Are you kidding! You have got to call him back!

He already has your phone number, so he has your address. You might as well find out what's up.

I agree with G. Just be careful if he wants to meet you in a dark alley behind a BBQ joint.

[Papa Deuce]

Are you kidding! You have got to call him back!

He already has your phone number, so he has your address. You might as well find out what's up.

Maybe not.... we moved but have the same number.... It just feels kind of creepy.

[mjl]

what are you afraid of, that he's going to be mean to you over the phone?

[Midnight Otter]

what are you afraid of, that he's going to be mean to you over the phone?

[Erik]

You need to call him -- and update the saga here.

[Midnight Otter]

You need to call him -- and update the saga here.

Update the Saga would be a good name for a band.

[Gregg]

I agree with G. Just be careful if he wants to meet you in a dark alley behind a BBQ joint.

Especially if his name is Lechter

[Erik]

Update the Saga would be a good name for a band.

It could be a reunited version of these guys:

[bryanbutler]

I agree with G. Just be careful if he wants to meet you in a dark alley behind a BBQ joint.

or if he wants to give you a ride. or share a hotel room with you. and if he wants to share a hotel room with you and FB, then be very scared indeed.

[johnnya24]

Papa ruined this dude's BBQ publishing career. It caused serious tension in his marriage. Arguments every day over money and trivial matters. Then he decided to give a young female co-worker a lift home one fateful rainy afternoon. He thought he was doing a good deed, but his wife found out and concluded that he was having an affair. She filed for divorce, and after an acrimonious court battle, he lost the remainder of his dignity and all his BBQ recipes. Papa is to blame. Papa must die.

I would definitely call him back.

[Midnight Otter]

Papa ruined this dude's BBQ publishing career. It caused serious tension in his marriage. Arguments every day over money and trivial matters. Then he decided to give a young female co-worker a lift home one fateful rainy afternoon. He thought he was doing a good deed, but his wife found out and concluded that he was having an affair. She filed for divorce, and in after an acrimonious court battle, he lost the remainder of his dignity and all his BBQ recipes. Papa is to blame. Papa must die.

I would definitely call him back.