Amazon.com Early Reviews

I want to thank the reviewers of Amazon.com’s VINE program who chose to read advanced copies of Marcelo in the Real World and reviewed the book before its actual publication. It is an amazing thing for an author to see how the book takes a life of its own after it is published and how, the book becomes the “property” of the reader, subject to the reader’s personal interpretation and appreciation. One student who read Marcelo for Donna Freitas’ religion class at BU asked me what I hoped the reader would take from the book. I was aware that a long time went by before I was able to answer. The delay came not because I was thinking about what to say but because I was a little embarrassed by what my heart said I should answer: What I most hoped the reader to take from the book was for Marcelo to become real for the reader, someone they would take along with them forever as part of their life the way, say, I take Don Quixote with me. I want to say thank-you the amazon.com advanced reviewers for opening their hearts and minds, for reading the book and letting Marcelo into their lives. I wish I could respond specifically about some of the points raised, the good ones and the critical ones, but there comes a time when the author needs to let go of the book and let it make its own way in the real world.