Fallacy in book
Julie Bove
(which isn't much for the Seattle area), I read a lot of books. I rarely
had to buy them because my mom reads more than a book a day. I read all of
her discarded books until she got seriously into murder mysteries. They
were okay for a while, but it's not really my genre.
So I started buying some books on my own. They were increasingly more and
more expensive. I would get angry and annoyed when I'd start reading a book
only to discover that it was bad in some way. Poorly written, boring or
contained wrong information.
I pretty much quit reading then, preferring to write my own books. This got
a lot easier when I got the computer and easier still when I could get
online. One thing I always do is try to make things realistic and get my
facts right. Exceptions would be Sci Fi (which I've never written and have
no interest in) and things of a fantasy/fairy tale nature.
When we first moved back here, my mom gave me stacks of her discarded books.
I took them and for the most part they sat, gathering dust. I did read a
few that were okay, but really had no interest in them. I also developed
that over 40 eye thing making reading difficult. I have to take my glasses
off to do it and I have astigmatism so that kicks in. It's just easier not
to read very much. I do read on the computer. That's the right distance
away for me so I can see it with my glasses on. But I digress...
But now Angela is going to a math tutor once a week. I already read all of
her magazines and all of mine, so I took a book. This one is called The
Alpine Quilt Book, by Mary Daheim. It's an Emma Lord Mystery.
The scene is set somewhere in the vicinity of the Seattle area and Emma
works for a local newspaper. She is covering a story where a woman drops
dead after having dinner in the church kitchen. The meal was Cornish game
hens and home made chocolate cheesecake. The woman is admitted to the
hospital after turning blue and having low BP among other symptoms.
Things look suspicious, so the Dr. in the hospital does some tests and
discovers that she was killed by Glipizide, a diabetes med. He surmises
that the white powder from the crushed pills could easily be concealed by
the chocolate cookies in the crust and that the sweet taste would cover any
bitterness. I take Glipizide and it has always been blue. I do know that
it can come from different sources though and I excused this, thinking
perhaps there were some white ones out there. But then things went bad.
Several times, the writer referred to the pills as "the insulin".
I got about halfway through the book. I really have no interest in
continuing it at this point. It wasn't all that good anyway, but this
really bugs me. And it's a very common school of thought. I can't tell you
how many people have made comments to me along the lines of people with type
1 having to inject their insulin while people with type 2 could just take
their insulin in pill form. Gah!
Ozgirl
Death by Glipizide, new twist!
morris
and before that they were blue--those were the non-generic, Glucotrol
XL. I had forgotten they were blue.
So the author wasn't wrong about the color, she was just generic.
As for her calling it insulin...well, generic, genetic, generic,
genetic, let's call the whole mystery off...
base, that is...
Here's some better reading (scroll to top before reading the comments
that follow...)
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/thinking-about-diabetes-with-every-bite/?apage=1#comments
Freckles
"Julie Bove" <juli...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:hei24j$bsa$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's a fiction novel! What whould you expect, a case study about Glipizide?
Did you believe everything in "The Exorcist" or "Psycho?"
Freckles
Ozlover
[...]
You're complaining about a *book*? :-)
I can do much 'better':
Our Dutch diabetes organization sponsored a Guiness Book of Records
attempt to better the record for number of (fallen) domino stones.
One of the young builders who was interviewed had Type 1. The gist of
it was that he had to watch his meals somewhat and inject once in a blue
moon. That was it.
So what the heck are you (T1s) and we (T2s) whinging about!? A piece
of cake (Oops, pun (not) intended)! It was on TV, so it *must* be true!
And now back to that super-size pizza I was eating. Maybe I just take
another insulin pill or maybe I won't.
--
Frank Slootweg,
T2, 59+4y, Diag 4/2000, weightloss (81->68 kg), diet, 2 * 0.5 mg Repaglinide
Julie Bove
"Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
news:TOGdnZ7sO6sPpJDW...@giganews.com...
>
> It's a fiction novel! What whould you expect, a case study about
> Glipizide?
>
> Did you believe everything in "The Exorcist" or "Psycho?"
I never saw the Excorcist all the way through so can't comment. I can't
remember anything in Psycho that could be blatantly wrong. But I don't
know.
And no, I wouldn't expect a case study but I would expect the author to at
least read about the drug to see how it works and what the side effects
could be.
Julie Bove
"Ozlover" <th...@ddress.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:7n4uneF...@mid.individual.net...Yes.
> I can do much 'better':
>
> Our Dutch diabetes organization sponsored a Guiness Book of Records
> attempt to better the record for number of (fallen) domino stones.
>
> One of the young builders who was interviewed had Type 1. The gist of
> it was that he had to watch his meals somewhat and inject once in a blue
> moon. That was it.
>
> So what the heck are you (T1s) and we (T2s) whinging about!? A piece
> of cake (Oops, pun (not) intended)! It was on TV, so it *must* be true!
I don't know about TV. I don't watch much of it.
>
> And now back to that super-size pizza I was eating. Maybe I just take
> another insulin pill or maybe I won't.
Heh.
Ozgirl
> Julie Bove <juli...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
> [...]
>
> You're complaining about a *book*? :-)
>
> I can do much 'better':
>
> Our Dutch diabetes organization sponsored a Guiness Book of Records
> attempt to better the record for number of (fallen) domino stones.
>
> One of the young builders who was interviewed had Type 1. The gist of
> it was that he had to watch his meals somewhat and inject once in a
> blue moon. That was it.
We have a winner!
Plague Boy
> "Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:TOGdnZ7sO6sPpJDW...@giganews.com...
>
>> It's a fiction novel! What whould you expect, a case study about
>> Glipizide?
>>
>> Did you believe everything in "The Exorcist" or "Psycho?"
>
> I never saw the Excorcist all the way through so can't comment. I can't
> remember anything in Psycho that could be blatantly wrong. But I don't
> know.
In "Psycho" the bloody water going down the drain swirls the
wrong way for the Northern Hemisphere.This is because "Psycho"
was actually filmed on the secret variable-gravity film studio
that was constructed to film the fake "Apollo Moon Landings". In
"Gone with the Wind" the smoke from the burning of Atlanta blows
in the wrong direction. In..oh, never mind.
>
> And no, I wouldn't expect a case study but I would expect the author to at
> least read about the drug to see how it works and what the side effects
> could be.
It was my understanding that authors had people to check and
double-check facts presented in their books. I guess pot-boilers
and bodice-rippers don't generate enough revenue to pay for this?
Even if you're delving into the realm of fantasy (magic, aliens,
space travel, honest politicians) you need to present a
believable premise, or risk shocking the audience out of the
"suspension of disbelief".
--
PB
"I suspect you're an arrogant little pissant who grew up in the
Red Bull generation." - CJW
Julie Bove
"Plague Boy" <plagu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:wo2dnRdvcsJgRZDW...@earthlink.com...
> Julie Bove wrote:
>> "Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
>> news:TOGdnZ7sO6sPpJDW...@giganews.com...
>>
>>> It's a fiction novel! What whould you expect, a case study about
>>> Glipizide?
>>>
>>> Did you believe everything in "The Exorcist" or "Psycho?"
>>
>> I never saw the Excorcist all the way through so can't comment. I can't
>> remember anything in Psycho that could be blatantly wrong. But I don't
>> know.
>
> In "Psycho" the bloody water going down the drain swirls the wrong way for
> the Northern Hemisphere.This is because "Psycho" was actually filmed on
> the secret variable-gravity film studio that was constructed to film the
> fake "Apollo Moon Landings". In "Gone with the Wind" the smoke from the
> burning of Atlanta blows in the wrong direction. In..oh, never mind.
>
>
>>
>> And no, I wouldn't expect a case study but I would expect the author to
>> at least read about the drug to see how it works and what the side
>> effects could be.
>
> It was my understanding that authors had people to check and double-check
> facts presented in their books. I guess pot-boilers and bodice-rippers
> don't generate enough revenue to pay for this? Even if you're delving into
> the realm of fantasy (magic, aliens, space travel, honest politicians) you
> need to present a believable premise, or risk shocking the audience out of
> the "suspension of disbelief".
>
people and after I got the Internet, I used that. However if I were going
to do in depth medical stuff I would probably find a professional.
Julie Bove
"M�ck��" <I...@OneWithTheGoddesses.org> wrote in message
news:v74sg59lulkskgsbp...@4ax.com...
> diabetes facts wrong.
Yes. I keep meaning to catch that movie when it comes on, but I never do.
noego
news:hei24j$bsa$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
someone describes a medical condition or situation which he obviously knows
nothing about nor has bothered to do any research before writing.
Re books in general: I used to read books a lot - devour them, in fact - all
non fiction. Then I started on technical books. Then I started on technical
magazines. Then all I was reading was technical manuals and magazines.
Recently I said 'bugger it, this is bloody useless! I do have a life' and
resumed reading books. Still non-fiction, but normal books. My best 'hit
rate' with getting good books is at a local market, where I get most for
only one or two dollars. I reckon they are so good because the previous
owner had them for a reason - best definition of 'pre-loved'.
Henry.
Peppermint Patootie
"noego" <myd!!!h...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> There's nothing quite like reading a novel or looking at a film where
> someone describes a medical condition or situation which he obviously knows
> nothing about nor has bothered to do any research before writing.
That's true of any topic about which one has some expert advice.
I have to grit my teeth sometimes or coax myself into a willing
suspension of disbelief when I watch "Numb3rs" on TV. I love the
relationship between the two sons and their father, but, sometimes when
Charlie figures out where the bad guy will strike next just by coming up
with an algorythm, I feel like screaming at the TV, "What about data
collection? Who's going to code the data and key it in? How many weeks
will those two steps take? Do you have a psychic computer? Have you
even tested the program?"
*sigh*
Sometimes it take an effort to allow myself to be entertained. I have a
friend who's a therapist, and he won't watch TV or movies about
therapists because they set his teeth on edge, plus he's just spent his
week doing that, and he wants something different. It's a little harder
to escape computers in popular entertainment, though.
PP
Peppermint Patootie
Plague Boy <plagu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> It was my understanding that authors had people to check and
> double-check facts presented in their books. I guess pot-boilers
> and bodice-rippers don't generate enough revenue to pay for this?
Some years ago I was listening to a panel of authors of young adult
literature talk about the process of bringing out a book. Someone in
the audience lodged a complaint about the poor editing in adult fiction,
and one of the people on the panel said that publishing houses are
pinching pennies so hard that the only fiction that gets edited these
days is children's and young adults' fiction. There is little if any
real editing done on adult fiction.
I believe it. Heck, there isn't even proofreading, as far as I can tell
from the errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation I see whenever I
open a book. I suspect they put the manuscript through a spell checker
and figure they're done.
PP
Peppermint Patootie
"Julie Bove" <juli...@verizon.net> wrote:
> news:wo2dnRdvcsJgRZDW...@earthlink.com...
> > Julie Bove wrote:
> >> "Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
> >> news:TOGdnZ7sO6sPpJDW...@giganews.com...
> >>
> >>> It's a fiction novel! What whould you expect, a case study about
> >>> Glipizide?
> >>>
> >>> Did you believe everything in "The Exorcist" or "Psycho?"
> >>
> >> I never saw the Excorcist all the way through so can't comment. I can't
> >> remember anything in Psycho that could be blatantly wrong. But I don't
> >> know.
> >
> > In "Psycho" the bloody water going down the drain swirls the wrong way for
> > the Northern Hemisphere.This is because "Psycho" was actually filmed on
> > the secret variable-gravity film studio that was constructed to film the
> > fake "Apollo Moon Landings". In "Gone with the Wind" the smoke from the
> > burning of Atlanta blows in the wrong direction. In..oh, never mind.
> >
> Now that kind of stuff I find interesting!
Julie, he's pulling your leg. Did you think that the wind in Atlanta
blows in only one direction, to name just one point?
PP
Julie Bove
"Peppermint Patootie" <Peppermin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Peppermint_Patootie-...@individual.net...
No.
Julie Bove
"M�ck��" <I...@OneWithTheGoddesses.org> wrote in message
> On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:53:53 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>
> you can get a copy in the bargain dvd bins for about 6 U$D or less.
Yeah, but I have no use for DVDs. I have enough junk around here. I get
them on occasion for Angela but she watches them over and over again. There
are very few movies I will watch again and again and of those, they are
usually on my cable somewhere. Not that I go out of my way to watch them.
I really don't watch much TV.