I read a few of Patterson's books and didn't like them, I sort of suspected that he doesn't really write anything, although he once might have.
Now I learn that "his role is more like superstar editor and auteur: He conceives every title's premise and plot, drafts outlines of 50 to 80 pages, then hands them to a co-writer. In Publishers Weekly, co-author Mark Sullivan described the outlines as “trusted navigational charts” that can take six weeks to sketch. The co-authors connect the plot points, rough out prose, and add ideas. They file sections every few weeks to Patterson, who swats back, notes."
I'm not interest either. But I'd rather see someone reading one of his books than nothing at all. For every 100 people who start with his books, some unknown percentage goes on to read other stuff.
I read one of his early works years ago and was not impressed; to paraphrase Leslie Charteris, as a stylist, James Patterson makes a great glue-boiler. And that his last 100 or so recent titles are collaborations, but not advertised as such, annoys the hell out of me. His work with bookstores is laudable, but I put him as a writer right there with Erich Segal and Robert James Waller. As Anonymous says, better people read him than nothing...but it's not like that's a zero-sum choice.
3 comments:
I read a few of Patterson's books and didn't like them, I sort of suspected that he doesn't really write anything, although he once might have.
Now I learn that "his role is more like superstar editor and auteur: He conceives every title's premise and plot, drafts outlines of 50 to 80 pages, then hands them to a co-writer. In Publishers Weekly, co-author Mark Sullivan described the outlines as “trusted navigational charts” that can take six weeks to sketch. The co-authors connect the plot points, rough out prose, and add ideas. They file sections every few weeks to Patterson, who swats back, notes."
Not interested.
I'm not interest either. But I'd rather see someone reading one of his books than nothing at all. For every 100 people who start with his books, some unknown percentage goes on to read other stuff.
I read one of his early works years ago and was not impressed; to paraphrase Leslie Charteris, as a stylist, James Patterson makes a great glue-boiler. And that his last 100 or so recent titles are collaborations, but not advertised as such, annoys the hell out of me. His work with bookstores is laudable, but I put him as a writer right there with Erich Segal and Robert James Waller. As Anonymous says, better people read him than nothing...but it's not like that's a zero-sum choice.
Post a Comment