James Patterson: Like him? Love him? Hate him?

[A.D.Seay]

I must admit that I'm relatively new to the phenomenon that is James Patterson (I've been buried in texts books for the past few years), but now that he's on TV every 45 minutes, he's pretty hard to ignore. I recently bought "Witch & Wizard: The Fire" when it went on sale for 99 cents on Amazon, and so far it's pretty good. I personally think the really short chapters are annoying (I like having a sense of accomplishment after finishing a chapter. It's hard to get that when a chapter is two pages), but other than that, I find this book to be quite enjoyable (though I'm far from finished).

So what do you guys think? Do you guys think his body of work is particularly strong? Will it stand the test of time? Is he a great author in your estimation or Dan Brown a product of a well oiled hype machine? I'm especially curious how you guys feel about his practice of coauthoring every blockbuster thriller in sight. So there you have it. What say you?  

[Nickmiles74]

I think he's good at what he does, which is write an entertaining book that has the ability to keep people interested, but I certainly don't feel that he should be considered great. I think great should be reserved for a select few like that of James Joyce. I mean comparing Along Came a Spider to something like Ulysses is like comparing apples and elephants, but that's just my opinion.

[HeidiHall]

I've always enjoyed books by James Patterson. If nothing else, they are almost always guaranteed to entertain. The short chapters don't bother me so much, but it seems the more titles he puts out, the shorter the chapters and the entire books get.

[sarahsbloke]

His older thrillers are good, The Quickie, Swimsuit.
The fantasy I don't like.

[Jen Black]

Isn't Patterson the author who hires a team of writers to write the chapters to his outlines? Am I thinking of the correct author?
Jen

[A.D.Seay]

Is that what he does? I know nearly every book he puts out is coauthored by someone else, but if he simply outlines the book and doesn't even write it himself, then WOW. I just assumed that he was at least writing half of the book. I understand that he wants to make as much money as possible, but I'm not sure churning out outlines and leaving the actual writing for someone else is the way to go. That sucks if it's true. Does anyone know for sure?

[PatrickWalts]

I can't hate on him.  He's writing books that people like and making money from it.  More power to him.  I don't read them, but many people do, so whatever.

[JScott]

Is that what he does? I know nearly every book he puts out is coauthored by someone else, but if he simply outlines the book and doesn't even write it himself, then WOW. I just assumed that he was at least writing half of the book. I understand that he wants to make as much money as possible, but I'm not sure churning out outlines and leaving the actual writing for someone else is the way to go. That sucks if it's true. Does anyone know for sure?

I hope that is not what he does. Then you start wondering if other authors do the same, or have other writers write their entire books for them. I feel that if an author's name is on the front cover, then that is who we should expect to have written the story. I feel cheated if this is true.

[Jen Black]

I got myself worried in case I was maligning the wrong man, so I checked! Here's a link to a long article in the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24patterson-t.html?pagewanted=all which is pretty detailed. A long way in (you can skim most of it if you want) it describes how he and his writers work.

Jen

[padowd]

I like him but I only read the books that has his name on it. I love his womens murder club series. I hated they took it off tv but I think it was on about the time of the writers strike and it went off the air. I agree his earlier books are very good. I have most of them in hardcover.

[A.D.Seay]

Thanks for the article Jen! I'll definitely be reading the entire thing when I'm through with class for the day.

[Todd Trumpet]

Not my taste.

Picked up a Patterson at a library sale once just to check him out.  Don't remember the book, didn't finish it.  It had something to do with a body being found on a Hollywood hillside...

...but I suspect that may not narrow it down much.

Todd

P.S.  Your strike-through of Dan Brown, however, did interest me.  I don't think anyone, not even Dan Brown, would label him a "great author".  But I also don't think "a well-oiled hype machine" is accurate, either.  IMO, Dan Brown earned his rep - and his money - as a best-selling writer.  When someone explodes on the world-wide book scene the way Dan Brown did with "THE DAVINCI CODE", there will always be people who take potshots.  But he obviously struck a chord with a LOT of people.  Myself included.  I enjoyed the read.  I enjoyed "ANGELS AND DEMONS" (the prequel) equally well.  "THE LAST SYMBOL", not so much.  That one did feel like "cashing in" to me.  But I still give him his due for finding a way to engage, entertain - and even enrage - such a large portion of the population.  It usually doesn't happen by accident.

[SawyerKing]

The short chapters really REALLY annoy me. I feel like I'm skimming a book when there is a new chapter every other page...

[4eyesbooks]

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas made me cry out loud while reading it and not many books have made me do that 

[A.D.Seay]

Not my taste.

Picked up a Patterson at a library sale once just to check him out.  Don't remember the book, didn't finish it.  It had something to do with a body being found on a Hollywood hillside...

...but I suspect that may not narrow it down much.

Todd

P.S.  Your strike-through of Dan Brown, however, did interest me.  I don't think anyone, not even Dan Brown, would label him a "great author".  But I also don't think "a well-oiled hype machine" is accurate, either.  IMO, Dan Brown earned his rep - and his money - as a best-selling writer.  When someone explodes on the world-wide book scene the way Dan Brown did with "THE DAVINCI CODE", there will always be people who take potshots.  But he obviously struck a chord with a LOT of people.  Myself included.  I enjoyed the read.  I enjoyed "ANGELS AND DEMONS" (the prequel) equally well.  "THE LAST SYMBOL", not so much.  That one did feel like "cashing in" to me.  But I still give him his due for finding a way to engage, entertain - and even enrage - such a large portion of the population.  It usually doesn't happen by accident.

What I was trying to do was juxtapose the concept of the popular writer who relies more upon plot and action to produce a large readership (Dan Brown) vs the quintessential literary genius whose prose is their primary claim to fame (James Joyce). Like I said, I'm very new to Patterson's work, and while it didn't really seem like he was trying to be this high-brow, highly sophisticated style of writer (at least in the 1/8th of the one book I've read already), I was wondering if perhaps he had anything like that in his body of work.

I don't think Dan Brown is a horrible writer, I'm just not a fan. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that when The Da Vinci Code came out, I was still in high school, and I spent like two weeks allowance on the Hardcover expecting it to be the best writing I've ever read. However it wasn't and I didn't even make it halfway through the book, which made me pretty upset (as you may well imagine). I just felt like the hype around the book was better than the book itself. I guess when all you've ever read are classics, Contemporary literature in general can be quite the disappointment. That's not really specific to Dan Brown, it just so happens that Dan Brown is the one who taught me that lesson. lol.

Now that I'm older and have read more contemporary books, I understand that classics are classic for a reason, and I think that's what I meant. I don't think anyone is going to care much about books like The Da Vinci Code in 50 years. That's not an indictment on Dan Brown. Very few books stand the test of time. I just wanted to know if Patterson has written anything (in your estimation) that will last 20, 30 years. 

[kindlegrl81]

I like his young adult books and his romance books but I'm not really into his mystery/thriller type books; which isn't all that surprising considering I'm not interested in mystery/thriller books in general.  I downloaded one of his when it was for free ( I think the title is Tick Tock) but I just can't get into it.

[bordercollielady]

I used to really enjoy his books.. back when he wrote "Jack and Jill" - and all the Alex Cross books.  But in the last 10 or so years - I lost interest.   I understood that he doesn't write anymore - just puts his name on a co-author's book.   Hasn't been the same.

[Geemont]

I read four Alex Cross novels in the late 90s, then gave up.  They were entertaining airplane novels, but nothing else.  I just wasn't interested enough to read more.

 If I read the article linked above correctly, he can largely be blamed for the mass produced for books as a commodity:

There were, of course, blockbuster authors before Patterson, among them Mario Puzo, James Michener and Danielle Steel. But never had authors been marketed essentially as consumer goods, paving the way for a small group of writers, from Charlaine Harris to Malcolm Gladwell, to dominate best-seller lists — often with several titles at a time — in the same way that brands like Skippy and Grey Poupon dominate supermarket shelves. “Until the last 15 years or so, the thought that you could mass-merchandise authors had always been resisted,” says Larry Kirshbaum, former C.E.O. of the Time Warner Book Group, which owned Little, Brown until 2006. “Jim was at the forefront of changing that.”

My big question is: Why do people like this stuff so much?  Maybe that's like asking why do people eat at McDonalds.

[kaotickitten]

I like James Patterson.  As to his using co authors to write his books from outlines, well if you were or are a fan of V.C. Andrews ( Flowers In The Attic), than you would be used to it.  I don't blame him for doing that.  He is getting his stories out there with final approval before he dies.  Not having his family audition writers to make stories out of his ideal's after he dies like V.C. Andrews family did. 

One other thing Witch and Wizzard: The Fire is the third book in a YA series.  Alot of the types will have shorter chapters.  While you may not like that it is the style of  the series.

[Jen Black]

i don't know about the Flowers in the Attic author, but I think a similar thing has happened with Dick Francis. His son has taken over the writing, and the most recent books are nothing like as good. I tried a McCaffery Pern story where I think a son had joined forces with the author, but again, there was little  of the imagination that made the  pern seeries so great. Call me cynical, but I can see publishers saying Oh, we can get a few more sales out of the name by doing this.... It makes you realise just how special some of the original authors really were!

Jen

[JEV]

Isn't Patterson the author who hires a team of writers to write the chapters to his outlines? Am I thinking of the correct author?
Jen

Yeah. It's factory work.

[patrickt]

I read James Patterson a few years ago an enjoyed his books but I seem to grow tired of series before the author grows tired of writing them. So, I quit reading Patterson before his books became "Patterson and ??". The constant partnering would have probably turned me off, anyway.

[ChadWilliamson]

Personally, I LOATHE Patterson. Like "white hot passion"-level loathing. I think he's the worst sort of pop writer (though Nicholas Sparks is running neck-and-neck there). He produces books the way Warhol produced art: assembly line. It's not that it's formula so much as it's BAD formula. No imagination, no inspiration, just outlines he passes off to other writers.

And I know he says he does very detailed outlines and he'll rewrite some of his collaborators, but the fact that he sells himself as "an idea man" rather than a writer is insulting to those of us who stare at blank screens every day and try to create something of our own.

I've gotten into BIG fights with his fans, and I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as someone says "Oh I LOVE his books," yeah, I start re-evaluating how much I want to associate with this individual. I've read more than my fair share of crap, sure, but his stuff is just such garbage from word one than it boggles my mind how people can tolerate his brand of swill.

So yeah, don't care for him LOL 

[kaotickitten]

I don't think it is all the publisher.  I think partly its the family, and fans when a particular author has died.  Yet when the original author is no longer writing the story just the idea's or outlines you do miss that particular story telling.

Wow Chad to reevaluate wither to associate with someone based on their likes of ligature is kinda harsh isn't it.  I mean everyone has their own opinions.  Some of us like the stories.  Even if they aren't literary genius, they do what we paid for.  Which is to take us away from our own lives for a moment.  Plus what is crap to you is genius to others and whats genius to you could be crap to others.

[bordercollielady]

My big question is: Why do people like this stuff so much?  Maybe that's like asking why do people eat at McDonalds.

Since you ask... I liked his earlier books because they moved fast (I enjoy that pace in a book) and because I also enjoyed the Alex Cross character (Psychologist/Detective) - as portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Along Came a Spider.   And yes - I also enjoy McDonalds every so often.

I've been on this board for a long time - and sometimes - I sense  that some posters look down at the mainstream (NYT Best Sellers) book market.     I spent too many years in Graduate school reading books I had to read..  Once I got out - I decided I was going to read what I wanted to read and would enjoy.   No apologies for that.