File Under Embarrasing Moments...
I'm doing a reading in a bookstore, and it's April 1st. (I should know better, shouldn't I?) I decide to play a little April Fool's joke on the audience, and I tell them that before I read from my new book (A Flight of Angels - thanks for asking), I want their feedback on a work in progress. I reassure them I'm only going to read the first sentence, but that it's kind of long and I would value their input.
I open a notebook and pretend to leaf through its pages. Finding my spot, I proceed to read one of the longest, most famous sentences in all of English Lit: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness...etc." You know the drill, right?
When I finish, I look up, smile, and ask, "So, what did you think?"
Lots of people are laughing, nodding, and shouting out things like, "That's great, Charles."
But one man raises his hand, so I call on him. "Well," he says. "I liked the first part all right, but it got a little repetitive, and maybe you should think about re-working the ending."
Hmmmm. There went my April Fool's joke! I didn't have the heart to tell him he was critiquing Charles Dickens!!