Dear Mr. Koger:
The editors of Critique have carefully reviewed your manuscript # 42-10-010 titled "A House of One's Own: Third Spaces and Liminality in Gender and Sexuality in Mark Z. Danielewski's <i>House of Leaves</i>" and have concluded they cannot accept it for publication. The comments on which this decision was based are at the bottom of this letter. We appreciate your interest in Critique and hope the outcome of this specific submission will not discourage you from submitting future manuscripts.
Sincerely,
Kevin Swanson
for the Executive Editors of Critique
(guy's email address)
Reviewer's Comments to Author
Consulting Editor/Reviewer: 1
Comments to the Author
The essay largely proceeds by way of character analysis, each character evaluated to the degree that it represents ego, superego, and id. Unfortunately, this is not an especially sophisticated approach. In addition, the essay is poorly written. It is filled with grand generalizations--"On college campuses acorss the nation, possibly across the world," "Always reflecting society, literature is also changing"--and the secondary sources are not gracefully integrated. There also is too much reliance on plot.
Sometimes an essay should not be submitted for publication, and I'm sorry to say that this is one such case. Perhaps at a later date, when the author has had time to develop his skills more, he can return to this essay for possible revision. But at the moment, my suggestion would be for him not to send the essay out elsewhere for publication.
Executive Editor
Comments to the Author:
The Executive Editor agrees with the Consulting Editor. Although "House of Leaves" is an important and intriguing novel, this essay about it is not ready for publication. Page 4 is an illustration of stylistic problems throughout: repetition of Karen as former model, beautiful, etc. The essay relies on too many broad generalizations such as "male patriarchy system of controlling women in society." As the author notes, not many essays have been published on Danielewski, but we still need to know why, in the context of those essays that have been published, this particular essay merits attention. Finally, Danielewski has given a few interviews; does he comment on the issues raised in this essay?