In response, fans as well as Palahniuk himself (who had never responded to a review before) sent angry e-mails to Salon's 'Letters' section.

To the Editor: Lucille A. Harrison (letter, March 1), responds to a review of "On Familiar Terms," a memoir by Donald Keene, the critic of Japanese culture and literature.

It responds to a bad review of the opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" received from the chief Soviet music critic: Stalin himself.

Forums: Respond to a review, discuss literary topics or join a monthly Reading Group.

To the Editor: We have written numerous books over a period of more than 30 years, but this is the first time either of us has felt obliged to respond to a published review.

However, in a 1993 letter to The New York Times responding to a review of Rymer's book, David Rigler wrote, "[T]he case never came to trial.

In my experience, the author who responds publicly to a negative review usually does such a poor job of defending himself that he winds up validating the reviewer's judgement.

The new report responds to a review of Carnivore by the Illinois Institute of Technology's Research Institute, which released a draft report on Nov. 17.

It was the only time Sanello, a former book reviewer for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Chicago Tribune who has panned some books, responded to a negative review.

Mr. Sleeper, responding to a critical review of his book, declared that "a politics based on dramatizing racial grievances hasn't the ghost of a chance in America."