[AJD] Re: An Unpleasant Review.... Re: Disappointment: New JD Book

[Dean Vinson]

Randy Leffingwell wrote:

 > Hello Dean,
 > I’m really sorry you’re disappointed with my new book... The first
 > two-thirds of this book IS based on 15,800 pages of new material.
 > It truly is not a rehash of the book I wrote 11 years ago...

Randy, thanks for taking the time to reply to my review comments.  I 
very much appreciate it, and am glad Spencer passed your post on to the 
e-mail list.  This is a John Deere list, you've produced a John Deere 
related product, I've offered a consumer's opinion on that product, and 
the list is certainly entitled to hear your response.

I was disappointed with the book on my first pass through it and so my 
posts focused on that disappointment, but I have long had great respect 
for you and your work.  My expectations were very high for precisely 
that reason.

I enjoy a wide range of tractor books and have posted small reviews of 
many of them at <http://my.voyager.net/~vinsond/books.html>, including 
comments on at least a dozen of yours.  Of those, most say things along 
the lines of "Thoroughly researched, flawlessly written, beautifully 
photographed," or "If you're looking for world-class photography and 
well-researched, easy-to-read text, Randy Leffingwell does it better 
than just about anyone."

I have also noticed that what I assume to be original research and 
writing sometimes appears in more than one book, usually in the form of 
less-detailed and less-expensive versions that follow the original. 
Your _The American Farm Tractor: A History of the Classic Tractor_ from 
1991 was a typically excellent original work.  _Classic Farm Tractors_, 
from 1993, seemed to me to be a Readers Digest-type condensation of the 
first book with different (but still excellent) photos.  I assume that 
example and others like it simply reflect the publishing industry's 
response to different market segments, which makes perfect sense.

I have not, however, previously noticed the repetition of your text or 
your photos in more than one of your big hardcover original books.

The introduction to your 1993 John Deere book begins "For Deere and 
Company, one historically significant event was never recorded on any 
calendar," and Chapter 2 begins "During the six weeks following March 9, 
1915, William Butterworth followed his path of caution."

In the new book, Chapter 1 begins "For Deere and Company, one of its 
historically most significant dates never has appeared on any calendar," 
and Chapter 2 begins "During the next six weeks, William Butterworth 
walked a tightrope."

Many subsequent paragraphs are equally similar, and as I paged through 
the new book I noticed quite a few other such cases.  That simply didn't 
meet the expectation I'd had, given my experience with your earlier books.

As I said in my follow-up post, now that I'm reading your new book in 
detail I'm enjoying it.  When I'm finished I'll write a little review to 
add to my book-review site, and although I'll mention the similarities 
to the earlier book I'll focus on the new and different.

 > As for taking the text as gospel, I am willing to stake my reputation
 > – such as it may be in your eyes, now – on this text.

I regret and apologize for my remark about "proper caution in taking the 
text as gospel," since it implied I mistrust the accuracy of your text 
in particular.  I have precious little direct experience on which to 
question anyone's text, least of all that of someone with your track 
record.  Other posts in this thread have commented about the saturation 
of the tractor-book market and the tendency of some printed information, 
correct or not, to be quoted or repeated in other places.  I think a 
general "buyer beware" caution is accurate but I shouldn't have 
associated it directly with your book.

 > I cannot speak to the design or the title of this book.  None of those
 > decisions are mine.  I will say in defense of MBI and its design staff
 > that they created a book in tune with and stylistically in keeping
 > with other coffee-table style books that are selling now.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that my views on style are not 
in synch with the majority of the market.  Had I not gotten my shorts in 
a knot about some of the text, the format and title wouldn't have 
concerned me enough to mention them.  The combination just struck me wrong.

Thank you again for replying and addressing some of the challenges 
involved in tracking down accurate information.  I may be too 
persnickety about some details but your dozen-plus books on my shelf get 
read and re-read more than most of the rest of my collection, and I 
appreciate the effort behind that result.

Dean Vinson  --  Dayton Ohio
<http://my.voyager.net/~vinsond/>