After reading Geraldine Herbert-Brown’s response to my review of her book, Ovid’s Fasti: Historical Readings at its Bimillennium, I went back to re-read my review; I urge other readers of BMCR who are interested in Dr. Herbert-Brown’s book to do the same. I remain puzzled at the vehemence of Dr. Herbert-Brown’s response to what I continue to think was a positive review of her book: note, e.g., the last sentence of my review (“All in all, most if not all of the contributions in this volume will become mainstays in future discussions of Ovid’s Fasti.”). I did in fact on several occasions in the course of the review point to flaws in the editing of the book, but only in those instances in which I felt that the substance of the discussion could have been improved by her intervention; as I suggest at numerous points throughout the review, however, these flaws are hardly fatal to the overall product. Finally, I note that Dr. Herbert-Brown’s use of the phrase “editorial mismanagement” to describe my supposed verdict regarding her editorship is her choice of words, not mine.
BMCR 2003.11.12