An author only gets away with it if people read the book.

There are so many things that sift readers; what writers talk about is general patterns, though they can often formulate them as rules. Everybody likes to feel a sense of authority.

Tim Powers' example seems unfortunate, but what of the words around the incident, are they enough to draw in the reader? (Haven't read the book yet, so I don't know if they'll draw me in.)