tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post8262472798495843583..comments2023-11-02T01:20:32.436-07:00Comments on The Forbidden Gospels: Top Four Frustrations About Academic WritingApril DeConickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06616757055618151612noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post-39586401725782284952007-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:002007-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00Dear Michael,This is probably the most frustrating...Dear Michael,<BR/><BR/>This is probably the most frustrating thing I have experienced as an author. It is especially on my mind lately because of Nick Perrin's new book on Thomas. The chapter in which he interacts with my work is littered with misappropriations of quotations, misrepresentations of my position (even when I say the exact opposite in writing in my book), and caricatures that I would never support. It is very disconcerting to me to see such a "bizarre" (to use Nick's own word) characterization of my work.April DeConickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06616757055618151612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post-33054564470465766132007-05-17T08:16:00.000-07:002007-05-17T08:16:00.000-07:00Dear Phil,You are right to point this out. I made...Dear Phil,<BR/><BR/>You are right to point this out. I made an error in Recovering when I said that Stephen Patterson had written an article on Thomas' compositional history, and then discussed his stratification. Stephen called me and kindly told me that he did not consider his stratification to be a compositional theory at all, and that he was uncomfortable talking about Thomas in this way. So in the preface of my companion volume, I wrote this and retracted my words. If I ever get a chance to write a second edition of Recovering, I will correct this there as well.April DeConickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06616757055618151612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post-28092886685629332762007-05-17T02:56:00.000-07:002007-05-17T02:56:00.000-07:00April,This is good and sound advice. Caricature, s...April,<BR/>This is good and sound advice. Caricature, straw men arguments and flat out unwillingness to actually understand somebody's argument is careless in our profession.Michael F. Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09713482855679578651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post-68430751565170226142007-05-16T19:32:00.000-07:002007-05-16T19:32:00.000-07:00Amen and Amen, April, although I have to note that...Amen and Amen, April, although I have to note that confusions about what is being said can be honest. In those cases, one hopes that the person will retract the criticism at he earliest opportunity. <BR/><BR/>Peace, <BR/>PhilPhil Sniderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08944477827816680359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536854065433425156.post-4366005654201450852007-05-16T16:53:00.000-07:002007-05-16T16:53:00.000-07:00I agree wholeheartedly! All of these characterist...I agree wholeheartedly! All of these characteristics in academic writing make me wonder whether it's going to be worth my while struggling through to the end of the article/chapter/book. They also make me think twice about bothering to read anything else by the author in question. There are authors who do useful work but whose books I will not buy because I'm not prepared to pay large amounts of money for something that is unnecessarily difficult to read or seems to spend more time trying to make others look bad than it does in advancing the author's argument. Poor written expression also makes an author more vulnerable to being misrepresented.Judy Redmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04350638846246966802noreply@blogger.com