A couple weeks ago, an Amazon reviewer named Alana Chandler—the No. 1 reviewer, according to Amazon, of new books on the site—left a one-star review for Secrets of a Jewish Mother, the new book by Real Housewives of New York City cast member Jill Zarin. "I wanted to find this warm and loving but it seemed more like a doctrine in many cases that isn't loving and could be detrimental on several levels," Chandler wrote in her 1,500-word-plus review. "Not to mention it's been widely reported that it's for show rather than actual advice the authors themselves believe."Zarin asked me to leave a review for her book when I interviewed her for The Daily Beast a few weeks ago, just before it came out.
Three days after Chandler's review went up, an Amazon user named “Susan Saunders” left a comment on the review. Saunders wrote that Chandler was "a jealous person who likes to gang up on people." She continued: "I feel sorry for you but more for your cat." (Chandler's reviewer photo shows her with her dog.) "Someone needs to take your cat away from you and give it to a loving person. Jealous of Jill? You are just making her more famous and people are buying her book because it is a GREAT book about Jewish Mother's [sic]. You are ANTISEMITIC and it shows."
Saunders quickly deleted her comment, but not before someone took a screenshot and sent it to Zap2It.Why so shy all of a sudden? Because other Amazon reviewers quickly figured out that "Saunders" was actually Zarin. It didn’t take much: The Amazon wish list for "Saunders" had items listed on it for Zarin’s husband Bobby and her daughter Ally. And Saunders also had the same birthday as Jill. From there, the review thread got ugly, with commenters accusing her of a range of crimes, from a lack of Internet savviness to being “pathetic.”
When contacted by The Daily Beast, Chandler said that "Saunders" had sent her a "threatening email" after her review went up. "It was her follow-up to the Susan Saunders threat to me on Amazon," said Chandler.
Zarin didn't respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast, though she wrote a non-denial denial on her Facebook page: "Some crazy fans are saying I wrote my own review. I love the book, of course. People in my life have written wonderful things about the book. Some fans of the show need to find something else to do then write hateful things about me and my family. It is sad and I feel sorry for them. If you read the book and liked it, ...please write positive reviews. Thank you for all the support!"
Well, this season we've certainly seen a new side to Jill Zarin, after all only a "mean girl" would get all their panties all in a bunch going after someone who didn't like their book. Alana Chandler can only hope that Jill doesn't get her blacklisted from reviewing any more books in the future on Amazon.
oh my. Jill doth protest too much, now, doesn't she?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that, having been caught, she STILL doesn't want to admit she's wrong.
Blaming a "crazy" fan? ouch. So she thinks her fans are "crazy"? Hmm. Methinks Jill Zarin should rethink where she will live next, perhaps a stay in a mental hospital is in order for her.
Very sad that she won't just cop to what she did. It's quite obvious on Amazon that it IS her. Any fans that continue to support her in light of the proof, and it is there, in black and white, should really take a look at what she did.
Threatening someone? Calling them names? Anti-simetic? Seems to me that her portrayal on the show reflects her persona in Real Life.
Whilst I watch the show for entertainment, and the show calls itself a REALITY show, there are things that can't be edited, and that is bad behaviour caught on film for all the world to see, those who chose to watch.
Yes, some of us take it with a grain of salt, but when you get right down to it, seems like Life imitating Art, no, Jill Zarin?
Mrs. Z needs a check-up from the neck-up, learn to admit your wrongs, and then you won't have to spend so much time blocking people on your facebook account and twitter account.
She obviously can't handle any negative comments about herself, and this, in and of itself, is definitive evidence of a real problem within her.
I do wish her well, and hope she sees the light.
I think it is all bS. Honestly, you know that anyone could have created that profile. You can change your name at anytime to anything to even Barack Obama. Also, if they had a pre-existing wish list even better. You can change the comments on the wishlist at anytime and it doesn't effect the date and time of the when the item originally went into the wish list. That is to say that if you had an item for a book in your wish list in 2001 and then you wanted to add a comment or note in 2010, it would still read, "Item added to wish list in 2001." I also think it is suspect the gift for Allison because it was a boy's lego toy. It seem out of place and way too young. Seven years ago Ally was 11 and likely not still playing with legos if you go by any 11 year old girl in this day and age. I find it suspect. Also, why have your child's middle name it seems out of place. Finally, it has been 2.5 months and why isn't it down to stop the controversy? Amazon would let her take it down. I believe it is a disgruntled fan or something far far worse. But, I am betting on a disgruntled fan. It is suspect the initial people to find this aside from the reviewer who definitely would have tagged. I don't believe it is the reviewer, but I do not for one minute believe it is Jill. It looks too obvious.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anna that it was probably not Jill, as it would be far too obvious, but do think it might possibly have been the reviewer herself. Check out the amazon reviewer forums, and you will see that she is often in cat fights, and gets other participants fighting tooth and nail over her posts and reviews. This business with Jill Zarin might simply have been attention seeking behavior on the part of the reviewer.
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