YES---"NO IS AN ANSWER"

One of my all-time favorite books is a little literary companion titled, Rotten Reviews” edited by Bill Henderson in 1986.  It is a compilation of “mistaken, shallow and hostile reviews of books---highlighting nasty attacks on authors and on works that have become classics.”

For instance, a San Francisco Examiner rejection letter sent to Rudyard Kipling in 1889 said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”

And then, there was the London Critic’s review of Walt Whitman’s, “Leaves of Grass” in 1855. “Whitman is as unacquainted with art as a hog is with mathematics.”

Every writer has faced rejection. “No!” is a painful part of the job.  After 40 years in the profession, I have learned that life isn’t about answers; it’s about asking the right questions. In other words, when I needed an interview for a story, and someone’s secretary would say, “Can’t give you an appointment this month,” I’d thank her and then say, “Okay, connect me to someone who can.” Or, “I can write the story without the interview, quoting all the things that other people say about him.” That always worked!

Toddlers learn to say, “No!” early in their development. Being a bit smarter than a toddler, I discovered that double negatives work---“You don’t mind taking your nap now, do you?”  “No!” says the child and you have given her something to ponder before napping.

The older I get, the more I find the “No!” answer unacceptable without a pretty good reason attached. After a soldier yelled “No,” at me, I took a forbidden photo at The Great Wall of China---not realizing there was a military installation in the background. I took photos inside the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg when the old lady guard was sleeping, and when machine gunned soldiers jumped out of their armored trucks to collect bank deposits during the IRA problems, I took a picture before they yelled, “No photos.” All that Irish whiskey had clogged my ears.

Recently, at a charity banquet, an officious woman said to me, “You can’t put your coat on the back of your chair until the doors are officially open.” “Too late,” was my response. “I already found an open door.” I wanted to add, “I’m too old for this crap,” but I didn’t.

My co-author, Lynne Alpern and I received 20 rejections before we got a publisher for our first book, Oh, Lord, I Sound Just Like Mama. All of the editors liked the book, but they said “No,” because their marketing people had told them, “This book won’t sell.” When it was finally published, it received excellent reviews, was on several “Best Seller” lists around the Country, stayed in print for 20 years and sold over 250,000 copies.

Granted, one day, “No” will be the final answer for me. I can accept that. But, in the meantime, I will keep opting for “Yes”---not only---“Yes,” but “HELL, YES!”

Esther Blumenfeld (Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, 1877, “Sentimental rubbish. Show me one page that contains an idea.”) The Odessa Courier