Richard Ford's books were not always welcomed by critics. One novel was the unfortunate recipient of a nasty review by Alice Hoffman in the Sunday Times. Fortunately, Ford's wife had a ready reply: She took a pistol and shot a copy of one of Hoffman's own books.

"Seemed so good to do," Ford later remarked. "We had another copy so I went out and shot it too! I don't read my reviews anymore."

[According to another source, Ford denied the rumor that he had shot Hoffman's book, explaining that he had merely assisted with the return of the bullet-ridden book to the critic's editor.]

["It calls to mind," one reviewer said of The Ultimate Good Luck, "a cheap action picture in which hastily collaborating hacks didn't quite manage to put a story together."]