Wedding crasher

Authors enjoy reading reviews of their books, even slightly misguided ones like the review that appeared in yesterday’s Montreal Gazette. Reviewer Roberto Rocha is unhappy because I didn’t write more about work burnout, carpal tunnel syndrome or Tech Neck, a malady caused by spending too much time hunched in the BlackBerry prayer position.

It’s an odd point of view, really, because what Rocha seems to be saying is he’d rather read about things he already knows. Not a very adventuresome view, is it? Prior to beginning my research, I knew all about those topics, too, but I decided to write about something else. After all, if you’re going to spend four years on a project, you want to unearth new information or it would be a boring process. That’s why I chose to do a history of the company, Research In Motion, and how it took twenty-five years to become an overnight success.

Rocha claims I sound like “the best man delivering a wedding speech.” That’s a great line, I love it. He also declares that the book is “a pretty good account of the rise of the world’s most popular smartphone.” Apparently he must have enjoyed the ceremony and the party after. I thought I saw him there, dancing up a storm, his BlackBerry safely stowed so it couldn’t cause any harm.