Most of the Kindle books offer you a free sample, which lets you explore totally bland books without paying the $4.99 being asked. Why such authors set a price at $4.99, I have no idea, unless it is to get dedicated friends to buy the book and leave good reviews and just maybe entice someone else to cough up the $4.99. That might be criminal since the customer would then be tempted to bang his/her head against the wall out of frustration. I doubt the person would worry about causing stupidity, seeing that $5 has already been handed over for an ebook of incredible ghastly storytelling, based, I suppose, on six positive reviews. After all, any book worth its salt has the occasional reviewer who will write, “Sucks!” or “Blinded me.”

Now, I am not talking about those books that are not proofread, let alone not edited; I am not talking about those books in which the author believes the story should emerge from dialogue minus any narration; I am talking about something that is grammatically okay, but, Oh God, something that is akin to paint-by-numbers writing. Try to imagine it – it’s more stimulating than looking at these novels. I say novel, because the short, old-fashioned Churchillian word “book” is far too good for them.

Am I in a bad mood? No, I am not. I can’t carry a tune, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to sing by myself. Just because someone has no flair for words does not mean they shouldn’t write, but, shouldn’t they offer their efforts for “free” and with a warning?