Melville House Books

It was a classic position author/journalists often find themselves in, explains Melville House author Michael M. Thomas: “The esteemed editor of this Opinions section had barely finished expressing his regret that, as a close personal friend, he couldn’t review my new novel, Love & Money – and that, moreover, he was hard-pressed to think of a reviewer I didn’t have a connection with — when he brightened. ‘Why not review it yourself?’ he asked …”

Thus, either one of the most unethical or ballsiest reviews to come down the pike in a while: Thomas came to find himself writing a review of himself on Forbes.com, where he is a regular contributor.

Still, it was no easy task: His editor, he notes, had “the confidence born of an acquaintanceship that includes awareness that I am pretty much as hard on myself as I am on the real bad guys.” Still, notes Thomas, “He was also aware that self-reviewing puts a writer in a funny position: too generous a review will be disregarded as self-serving and phony, but what kind of writer will dump on a book he has worked hard on for–in my case–long years.”

Fair or not? Says Thomas, “The decision is yours, Gentle Reader.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.