If they can't think they can't be my readers".
The paper may have to play by the rules, but that doesn't mean these rules can't be explained to readers.
"Art silk" stockings are much mentioned in books of the era, and I can't be the only reader who initially thought they were particularly fancy ones – perhaps with a nice design on them.
That can't be what the reader meant..
That isn't to say it can't be: if hundreds of readers were offended by a particular image, their concern might be a good indicator of an editorial misjudgement.
A Hustler article about autoerotic asphyxiation yielded a suit that in turn helped establish that publishers can't be held liable if readers harm themselves or others based on something they read in a piece of journalism (Herceg v. Hustler Magazine, 1987).
But it can't be long before some reader – or publisher for that matter – joins the queue of those wanting to sue Armstrong for breach of contract.
When these can't be found, the British reader's best bet is to buy whole (shell-on) cooked Atlantic prawns (about 550g) and peel them yourself, or to buy cleaned brown shrimp.
I can't be the only child reader who wanted to keep my clothes in Arrietty's stacked-matchbox chest of drawers, or painstakingly try to wield a pencil as big as a rolling pin.
Of course we all make mistakes (and by the way, any errors in this blogpost are IRONIC), but I can't be the only avid reader who has a mental list of red flags when I'm reading a new book or writer.
