I assume Florence King meant her essay "Ripping Clio's Bodice - The Chronicles of a Sweet Savage Hack" (May 3) to be tongue in cheek.

When Florence King was a child, her grandmother gave her a copy of "Gone With the Wind."

Florence King is all grown-up now, but she's still not a stereotypical Southern girl.

Florence King, a writer, was talking about copy editors.

"Florence King was horrified at what a freelancer did to her book," he said, "and in the end it was Florence's book, not the freelancer's."

By Florence King.

In her new collection of essays, Florence King comes on - as usual - like someone with Tourette's syndrome at a diplomats' ball.

Florence King of The New York Times reviewed the book negatively, criticizing the plot and Neville's writing.

And according to Florence King, a columnist for National Review and the author of a new book on the subject, the classic example of a closet misanthrope is a person who claims to disdain television.

Florence King revived the term for her 15 July 2002 essay entitled "On Keeping a Journal," which appeared in "The Misanthrope's Corner" of the National Review magazine.