Worst U.S. novelist? (post world war 2 div.)

[Zolok]

Any nominees, just plain bad-writers??

Lemme throw Mickey Spillane on the fire....who once devoted a paragraph to detailing the differences between a "dame" and a "broad".
Any others?

[Saudade]

1. Why?

How does detailing the differences between "dame" and "broad" indicate poor writing, given that the two words are not synonyms?

[AngryAmish]

2. Don Delillo

I have read "White Noise" 3 times. Each time I picked it up I got 100 + pages into it before remembering I read it before. I can not think of worse criticism.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Try "Underworld"; much better book.

"White Noise" is a tad overrated.

[HuckleB]

8. White Noise is wonderful.

So is most of the rest of Delillo's work.

[amazona]

18. try Libra

Although maybe DeLillo is not just for you if you don't like White Noise, which has a beautiful rhythm.

Libra, the story of Lee Harvey Oswald, is my favorite DeLillo book and to my mind one of the best novels of all time. It captures a time.

[AngryAmish]

23. No, I also read Libra

It too sucked. It is not the particular book, it is the man's lack of talent. I'm sure with proper training he could make a passable attendant at a Kinko's or perhaps a busboy. His talent is not writing popular fiction.

[DemoTex]

30. Best endorsement of "Libra"?

George Will almost had a stroke over DeLillo's Libra. However, Amazona, Libra is a "fictionalized" account of L.H. Oswald, by DeLillo's own admission. Want the best account going? Read Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale.

Meanwhile back to DeLillo: I love Don DeLillo. I loved White Noise. What an anti-TV theme that was!

Mac

[fertilizeonarbusto]

3. John Updike

As Truman Capote put it, "dull, dull, dull." And so incredibly narrow-minded, provincial and tight-assed. I predict he'll be forgotten 100 years from now.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. I vote for John Grisham.

Decent and compelling plots; truly horrible prose that reads like it was written by a bright eighth grader.

[HuckleB]

10. I'll second Grisham.

The writing just makes me laugh. I've tried and tried to read his books, but I just can't get past the horrible prose.

[terrya]

14. Grisham turns out product.

That's all his books are. You're casting the big budget Hollywood movie when you read his books.

[AngryAmish]

24. Hoo boy, Grisham sucks

[HEyHEY]

29. him and tom clancy can jump off a bridge for all I care

[Loonman]

6. Jacqueline Susann

Did for novel writing what Jonestown did for kid's drinks.

Utter crap.

[kcwayne]

7. Ann Rynd

Trying to make a Homerian hero out of a guy trying to turn a profit (Atlas Shrugged). I am sorry, I could not relate to the struggles of a capitalist titan fighting off the hoards of evildoers (those miserable working class wretches that want something for nothing).

I know, I know, the critics think its a marvelous study of the struggle to achieve perfection, but it struck me as a shrill playbook for justifying the capitalist version of totalitarianism.

[regularguy]

22. Agreed on Atlas Shrugged...Awful.

But I have to admit that I kinda liked The Fountainhead.

[Norbert]

39. Read Anthem

and "We didn't like it."

[Superfly]

9. Tom Clancy

Just how much jargon can one cram into a book?

[grannylib]

20. I'm with you on that one

[nostamj]

11. E. Lynn Harris

i don't often throw a book across a room. pretenious, tedious garbage.

Robin Cook writes utter crap these days too.

[terrya]

12. L. Ron Hubbard

Awful writer. His novels are ridiculous.

[BigMcLargehuge]

16. they all read like bad first drafts from a...

Community College creative writing night course.

[felonious thunk]

13. Clive Cussler

At least Clancy (or his ghost writers) try to do some research before their novels. Take every stereotype imaginable, simply all the characters to whichever one they fit, and write a unbelievable story where the ending is known by page 2.

[FloridaJudy]

28. I concur

Cussler is third-rate James Bond, and Ian Fleming wasn't all that great to begin with.

[yolatengo]

15. Newt or Lynne

Gingrich or Cheney

Bigby

[Zolok]

17. D'ye think though that...

Newt probably has a ghost writer? Ghost written fiction has a long venerable history among the DC power elite.
Drew Pearson allowed two novels "The Senator" and "The President" to go out under his name and they were largely written by someone else.


Of course I've long had the irrational suspicion that Stephen King gets "help" in maintaining his legendary output...I mean his wife wrote a book back in the 1980's who is to say she doesn't pitch in when the deadline loom?
Just a suspicion though...

www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[amazona]

19. most celebrities have ghost writers

When you see a book written by "Celeb" with "someone," the Celeb at best talked to the "someone" on the phone and the "Someone" did all the writing.

No one expects politicians, actors, etc. to write their own books; most are not intelligent enough and the few more intelligent ones are likely too busy.

Sadly, many well-known "writers" also misrepresent their work. We now know that Dick Francis's novels were written by his wife, who received zero recognition in her lifetime. Alas, she died on him, so the secret is out, as Mr. Francis cannot write on his own -- apparently all he ever did was provide an outline and "ideas." Of course all writers know that everyone has "ideas" -- that is the least significant part of creating a work.

Perhaps the most disgraceful "writer" is Arthur C. Clarke, who probably last did any real writing in the 1960s. So much of Clarke is Gentry Lee!

There is a VERY well-known and in some circles well-regarded fantasy writer who I have good reason to doubt ever wrote any of his opus. I interviewed him about his first novel, and it was clear he hadn't a clue as to what it was about. I think he has had considerable assistance from the right-wing agenda. Including a team of ghost writers to maintain his prodigious output.

As for Stephen King's wife, she writes her own stuff and I doubt she has time to write Mr. King's stuff as well. While Stephen King -- like ALL writers who can afford it -- has staff and gets assistance in doing research, I find it hard to believe that a "ghost" is writing much of his stuff. In King, I think we have a true case of hypergraphia. There is some fine material in there, just an awful lot of flab. King needs to find an editor who isn't afraid to hurt his feelings and edit, edit, edit. The problem with King is not that he isn't writing but that he is writing too much....

Just my humble opinion but while your suspicions are righteous for the most part I think you needn't doubt Stephen King's integrity.

[SheilaT]

21. Apparently

James Michener stopped writing his own stuff at some point. He had a large staff of researchers from fairly early on, and they apparently took over more and more of the writing.

[CanuckAmok]

25. Brett Easton Ellis, hands down.

if it wasn't for the shock value of his content, he wouldn't be read at all.

26. I agree

& I actually read Glamorama the whole way through so that I could have an opinion based on fact instead of prejudice. I'd read Less Than Zero years before and formed this opinion so I knew what I was getting into!

[CanuckAmok]

42. We share opinions on Ellis and Bullwinkle, obviously!

n/t

[thom1102]

27. Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh...

Cause lord knows what they print, isn't non fiction.

[DemoTex]

35. Good point, Thom1102

Fiction, non-fiction, lies , and propaganda.

[durutti]

37. O'Reilly...

O'Reilly actually did write a mystery novel.

[DemoTex]

31. I just steer clear of the pop writers. Period.

I've never read a Grisham book. I have read and re-read most of Faulkner's. I rest my case.

[Liberal Veteran]

32. Tim LeHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins of the "Left Behind" series....

Two dimensional characters do nothing for me. Not to mention outlandish plot devices thrown in for "dramatic effect".

[Breezy du Nord]

40. Oh, definitely

Especially the kids series, which I read once for a school assignment in 6th grade. :boring:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

46. They made you read that for sixth grade?

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. Danielle Steele. Same book over and over...horrific happening

turns into beautiful romance...:puke:

I think she has a computer program that writes for her..

[Breezy du Nord]

41. That's what my mom says

That she read two and they were exactly the same.

but hey, I guess her motto is "if it ain't broken don't fix it," huh?

[ScreamingMeemie]

45. Yes, I guess she is making money...eh?

Lucky her. :)

[HawkerHurricane]

34. Stephen King.

Every book and short story of his that I have read turned out to be a direct rip off of one or another 1950's science fiction story that I had read years earlier in old magazines.

[Zomby Woof]

43. thank you!

Sometimes I think I am the only one who realizes what a hack he is. Most overrated hack of the past 50 years, easily.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. I don't count genre writers as "bad"

even though there are levels of quality within each genre.

I reserve my contempt for self-conscious literary writers who are praised by the critics.

I once decided that I needed to read more literary fiction, but I didn't know where to start, so I bought a book of the year's most highly praised short stories. There were only about three stories out of the twenty that didn't seem like pointless, pretentious verbiage about self-absorbed yuppies or about a self-absorbed yuppie's ideas of working class people.

These days I stick to mysteries and non-fiction. There are some very fine writers in the mystery genre, and I read literary fiction only if someone I trust recommends it. But even there I have been disappointed. I did not like Snow Falling on Cedars, even though everyone assumed that I would.

[durutti]

38. Ayn Rand

Definitely.

[BackDoorMan]

44. I only read non-fiction. So it would have to be Bill O'Reilly ...

or the pigman.