The Banana Slicer, the Pen, and the Sock Puppets

My Civil War Sunday feature will be posted later today, but I dd not want to wait until after Christmas to blog about the Amazon Review Purge.

To the horror of published writers (both "indie" and "traditionally published") Amazon has "refined" its review policies - maybe this time, a little bit too much.

I am not going to write or comment on the purge itself - many authors have already weighed in. As I am not a published writer, I have nothing to add to the conversation except to say:  sales of books depend heavily on reviews - and these reviews can be obtained in some interesting ways. We've always known that in our hearts, but now the dirty laundry is being hung all over the Internet for all to see.

On the other hand, folks, do not despair!  As of 9:30 this morning these helpful (non-book) review are still on Amazon for your use and enjoyment!  Read them carefully:  they may be gone by the time you read this post.  I am seeing some writing talent in these reviews.  Maybe these people should be running Amazon and not the yaho-oh, sorry, that name is already taken by someone else-running this purge.

If I had found these a week ago, I would have had another Apocalypse Confession to post. (by the way, I am still holding out on my yearly binge read of the Weekly World News).

Thank you to a high school friend who posted links on Facebook to the first two reviews.

Bic Cristal Pen (for her) $6.00

Banana Slicer - $2.50

Uranium Ore - $39.95 (yes!  you can mail order yourself uranium ore!)

The Laptop Steering Wheel Desk $29.95 (yes, it's still in stock!)

And, finally, for the serious photographer who has everything (or the serious photography wannabe who has nothing):  An unbelievable telephoto zoom lens.

We in the United States need a good laugh today.  The Amazon purge isn't funny, because I do depend on reviews - not just of books, but items I am purchasing.  I've always taken reviews with a decent helping of "reviewee beware" but I may have to rethink my use of reviews completely.

But you have to admit - I made you laugh!