id_salon…between not dignifying certain posts with a response, and showing up at the authors’ doors, chaining them to their radiators and having Kristin Chenoweth read aloud to them in her squeaky little voice until they swear that next time they’ll at least READ THE BOOK THEY’RE CRITIQUING before they critique it. After that, toss it, trash it, shred it and use it to line your Guinea pig’s cage if you think it sucks. I’m as environmental as the next gal.

I may be merely a women’s magazine editor (which the author of this piece on Salon.com seems to rank just above those who typeset supermarket circulars and right below those who redact classified government files on the print media hierarchy of respect) but even dumbass I know that in order to comment on the content of a text, one must take the time to run one’s eyes across the actual text, and not just an article about the text.

“Don’t call me “formerly” anything,” Mary Elizabeth Williams, with whom I believe I discussed assigning a story a few years ago when I was at SELF, a–gasp!–women’s magazine where I used to work, says. “Because I’m not ready to assume my best years are behind me. And I don’t ever want to define myself by what I’ve been.”

Yeah, me either. Lighten up. The term “Formerly Hot” is a joke, mainly on me. I prefer to laugh at the pressures of aging. It’s fine if you don’t think it’s funny. But at least read the book before you snark. I think you’d find that we agree on many, many points.