Geez that was pretty harsh. I mean Mr. Dorrance would have had to have told Mr. Eaton that Lucy's novel was horrible yet he knew that was the first time she had ever written a novel. Then Mr. Eaton knowing that Lucy was a novice writer wanted to use the novel in a textbook as an example of a poorly written novel was equally cruel.
shareAgreed. I've never liked the way the publishers handled this. Even though she took catty swipes at Ricky and the Mertzes in her book, with this outcome I felt genuinely sorry for Lucy in this one.
And Mr. Dorrance didn't know that Ricky, Ethel and Fred didn't care for the way Lucy portrayed them. From his perspective she was just a novice writer trying to get her ideas out. Seriously he must have called up Mr. Eaton and been like "wow, you will not believe the piece of crap I read, this woman must be mentally challenged or something", that's just mean spirited. Yeah it's hilarious but the characters were still mean spirited.
shareGood point.
Mr. Dorrance especially should have handled Lucy with Kid Gloves, since he'd already made the enormous error of sending her a letter accepting her novel, and Lucy's response when he told her he'd made a mistake was so classy. He should have at least called her to explain what Mr. Eaton wanted to use her novel for, rather than telling Lucy to call him and being told it was to be used as a textbook example of how not to write a novel.
Better yet I think Mr. Eaton should have just written an example himself of how not to write a novel. Using someone else’s work when they were legitimately being sincere just seems wrong.
shareYes, it would have been best for Mr. Eaton to write the chapter himself, but since Mr. Dorrance had already contacted Mr. Eaton, and knew why Mr. Eaton wanted to use Lucy's novel I thought it was better for him to let Lucy know in advance what Mr. Eaton had in mind.
Gary is right, of course, that the onscreen result is funny and Lucy is paid back for her catty comments about Ricky, Fred and Ethel, but I would think a publisher would have more class than to, in essence, "throw Lucy to the wolves."
LOL, I wonder if Lucy ended up letting Mr. Eaton use her novel.
shareBut undeniably hilarious. Lucy gets her just desserts after humiliating Ricky, Fred and Ethel. A great episode from start to finish.
share One of my favorite episodes. I felt sorry for Lucy when she became so upset and discouraged. First time novelists are rarely published from what I've heard.
Her "life story" sounded more like a humor novel which only had elements of truth. I never thought she was being catty, just corny. Of course if the book had been accepted for publishing, Lucy could have insisted on some tactful editing (at the behest of Ricky and the Mertzes). She could have had their names changed completely.