The Worst Writer Ever?

[wat??]

The worst writer ever was likely never published.

[TurquoiseSunset]

The worst writer ever was likely never published.

Well, I suppose it's implied that we are looking for the worst writer ever published, otherwise there wouldn't be much of a discussion...

[LitNetIsGreat]

Neely, tsk tsk, for being like that about people who watch daytime television. It's like saying everone who reads horoscopes believes they will come true...

Daytime television is a waste of electricity.

[wat??]

Well, I suppose it's implied that we are looking for the worst writer ever published, otherwise there wouldn't be much of a discussion...

Nah the thread is about the worst writer who is widely read.

If it were the worst ever published, nobody here would have read that either.

[Scheherazade]

Here is a selection of Oprah's Reading list:

2008
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

2007
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier


2006
Night by Elie Wiesel

2005
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

2004
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

2003
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsb...0701_orig_list

It doesn't mean that it is not possible to have mass appeal and quality, but in my experience the two don't often go hand-in-hand, especially with the target audience comprising of people who enjoy watching daytime television!

So, you were saying?

I actually like the fact that someone popular like Oprah would endorse these books and encourage people (especially those who would not otherwise) at least to give them a try. This is a good cause and Oprah deserves a pat on the back even if she gets 10% of her audience reading.

By the way, Neely, maybe you should watch Oprah... Who knows? Next, they might be reading Paradise Lost.

[Emil Miller]

Daytime television is a waste of electricity.

Night-time television is a waste of electricity.

[jekan blazer]

Well, I suppose it's implied that we are looking for the worst writer ever published, otherwise there wouldn't be much of a discussion...

Night-time television is a waste of electricity.

television is not a waste of energy!!! they are for video games!!!

[Lokasenna]

Here is a selection of Oprah's Reading list:

2008
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

2007
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier


2006
Night by Elie Wiesel

2005
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

2004
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

2003
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

I actually like the fact that someone popular like Oprah would endorse these books and encourage people (especially those who would not otherwise) at least to give them a try. This is a good cause and Oprah deserves a pat on the back even if she gets 10% of her audience reading.

Out of interest (as I genuinely don't know), how many books a year are covered by Oprah? Sure, there might be some good stuff there, but if she's doing a book a week, then 3 or 4 decent works out of 53 isn't much to write home about.

That said, I've no problem with Oprah or R&J endorsing books, even if they're fairly naff. At least its getting people to read - their target audience, presumably, would be the part of the population least expected to read for pleasure. Melvyn Bragg might spend his days recommending works of great literature to high-minded individuals, but his audience share is almost certainly a lot lower than theirs.

[Emil Miller]

television is not a waste of energy!!! they are for video games!!!::

Well they can't be worse than watching the programmes.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Here is a selection of Oprah's Reading list:
So, you were saying?

I actually like the fact that someone popular like Oprah would endorse these books and encourage people (especially those who would not otherwise) at least to give them a try. This is a good cause and Oprah deserves a pat on the back even if she gets 10% of her audience reading.

By the way, Neely, maybe you should watch Oprah... Who knows? Next, they might be reading Paradise Lost.

Well at least she throws classics in so as to make her audience seem intellectual! Richard and Judy books have names like:

A Quiet Belief In Angels by RJ Ellory, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann, The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon, When Will There be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, The Bolter: Idina Sackville - The Woman Who Scandalised 1920s Society and Became White Mischief's Infamous Seductress by Frances Osborne??? and so on, I'm not making these up by the way.

Which sounds tempting if you are a lone female who likes knitting and cats.

That said, I've no problem with Oprah or R&J endorsing books, even if they're fairly naff. At least its getting people to read - their target audience, presumably, would be the part of the population least expected to read for pleasure. Melvyn Bragg might spend his days recommending works of great literature to high-minded individuals, but his audience share is almost certainly a lot lower than theirs.

Yes I've not got a problem with non-readers cutting their teeth on books like this, I would agree with you that it is a good thing to get people reading who wouldn't normally do so, however I won't be tuning in to get advice, I've already read too much rubbish when I was younger and I don't need to go back to that.

I'm sure that they are not all rubbish anyway, I'm sure that there are some that are only slightly rubbish.

[LitNetIsGreat]

*Must see* clip of Richard and Judy in action. Expresses perfectly what I was saying above. Got to 3 minutes and had to stop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZfARvUHyo

OK, I will stop taking the Mick now.

[Scheherazade]

That said, I've no problem with Oprah or R&J endorsing books, even if they're fairly naff. At least its getting people to read - their target audience, presumably, would be the part of the population least expected to read for pleasure. Melvyn Bragg might spend his days recommending works of great literature to high-minded individuals, but his audience share is almost certainly a lot lower than theirs.

Exactly my sentiment... I think this is reason enough to get Oprah nominated for a Nobel peace prize or something!

Which sounds tempting if you are a lone female who likes knitting and cats.

Hey, now! Leave the cat and my knitting out of this...

Yes I've not got a problem with non-readers cutting their teeth on books like this, I would agree with you that it is a good thing to get people reading who wouldn't normally do so, however I won't be tuning in to get advice, I've already read too much rubbish when I was younger and I don't need to go back to that.

You don't have to get their advice but there is no reason to dismiss books appearing on these shows or people reading the books recommended by them.

[LitNetIsGreat]

You don't have to get their advice but there is no reason to dismiss books appearing on these shows or people reading the books recommended by them.

Have you seen the clip posted above, there's reason there?

[Emil Miller]

Have you seen the clip posted above, there's reason there?

My God you are so right. At 1.47 of 'My Best Friend's Girl' I'd had enough and had to stop watching. The indestructible MIlls and Boon wagon continues to roll.

[Nightshade]

Well at least she throws classics in so as to make her audience seem intellectual! Richard and Judy books have names like:

Wait are you judging books by there names? They've actually had some fairly decent books on there lists in the past, the books they recommend tend to range in genre, quality and style. They try and cater for the majority of people and try and get people out of a reading rut. I mean if everyone only read books they knew were 'worthy' books, then how would anything new ever get discovered?

2004

Monica Ali - Brick Lane
Martina Cole - The Know
William Dalrymple - White Mughals
Zoe Heller - Notes on a Scandal
David Nicholls - Starter for Ten
Joseph O'Connor - Star of the Sea
Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones (winner)
Asne Seierstad - The Bookseller of Kabul
Nigel Slater - Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger
Adriana Trigiani - Lucia, Lucia
2005

William Brodrick - The Sixth Lamentation
Paula Byrne - Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson
Justin Cartwright - The Promise of Happiness
Karen Joy Fowler - The Jane Austen Book Club
Chris Heath - Feel: Robbie Williams
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (winner)
Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper
Andrew Taylor - The American Boy
Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Shadow of the Wind
2006

Julian Barnes - Arthur & George
Richard Benson - The Farm
Geraldine Brooks - March
Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer
Martin Davies - The Conjurer's Bird
Nicole Krauss - The History of Love
Anchee Min - Empress Orchid
Kate Mosse - Labyrinth (winner)
Eva Rice - The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
Andrew Smith - Moondust
2007

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
William Boyd - Restless
A.M. Homes - This Book Will Save Your Life
Lori Lansens - The Girls
James Robertson - The Testament of Gideon Mack
Griff Rhys Jones - Semi-detached
Jed Rubenfeld - The Interpretation of Murder (winner)
Catherine Ryan Hyde - Love in the Present Tense
2008

Danny Scheinmann - Random Acts of Heroic Love
Katharine McMahon - Rose of Sebastopol
Roger Jon Ellory - A Quiet Belief in Angels
Patrick Gale - Notes from an Exhibition
Joshua Ferris - Then We Came to the End
Mark Slouka - Visible World
Lloyd Jones - Mister Pip
Tim Butcher - Blood River
Peter Ho Davies - The Welsh Girl
Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns (winner)
2009

Jesse Kellerman - The Brutal Art
Kate Summerscale - The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
Andrew Davidson - The Gargoyle
Kate Atkinson - When Will There Be Good News
David Ebershoff - The 19th Wife
France Osborne - The Bolter: Idina Sackville-The Woman Who Scandalised 1920s Society and Became White Mischief's Infamous Seductress
Joseph O'Neil - Netherland
Beatrice Colin - The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite
Elizabeth H Winthrop - December
Steven Galloway - The Cellist of Sarajevo
Summer Book Club 2004

Jennifer Donnelly - A Gathering Light
P. J. Tracy - Want to Play?
Cecelia Ahern - PS, I Love You
Maile Meloy - Liars and Saints
Ben Richards - The Mermaid and the Drunks
Bella Pollen - Hunting Unicorns
2005

Karen Quinn - The Ivy Chronicles
George Hagen - The Laments
Anthony Capella - The Food Of Love
Susan Fletcher- Eve Green
Ben Sherwood - The Life and Death of Charlie St Cloud
David Wolstencroft - Good News, Bad News
2006

Jim Lynch - The Highest Tide
Sam Bourne - The Righteous Men
Victoria Hislop - The Island
Dorothy Koomson - My Best Friend's Girl
Elisabeth Hyde - The Abortionist's Daughter
Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian
2007

Kim Edwards - The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Simon Kernick - Relentless
Kate Morton - The House at Riverton
Paul Torday - Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Jane Fallon - Getting Rid of Matthew
Mark Mills - The Savage Garden
Jonathan Tropper - How to talk to a Widower
Mary Lawson - The Other Side of The Bridge
2008

Sadie Jones - The Outcast
Linwood Barclay - No Time for Goodbye
Julia Gregson - East of the Sun
John Hart - Down River
Margret Cezair - The Pirate's Daughter
Rebecca Miller - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Toni Jordan - Addition
James Bradley - The Resurrectionist

2009
Julian Fellowes - Past Imperfect
Dave Boling - Guernica
Stephen L. Carter - Palace Council
Charles Elton - Mr Toppit
Jill Dawson - The Great Lover
Bateman - Mystery Man
Sue Miller - The Senator's Wife
Janice Y. K. Lee - The Piano Teacher

Now granted I am not really looking forward that much to reading this years books, but just because I don't like hem, or they are no considered especially literary doesn't make them bad.

As to My best friend's girl, it wasn't half as bad as they make it out to be. Imuch preferred Marshmallows for breakfast, but my best friends girl wasn't that bad. Certainly neither were mind blowingly awe inspiringly amazing. But they are good at what they are and don't pretend to be anything else chicklit.
Also it wasn't published by Mills and Boons, from whose 'wagon' incidentally Jack London was launched amongst other greats, it was published by TimeWarner. And aside from the fact Mils and Boons isn't even called Mills and Boons anymore, officially as a company the imprint still exists, you do realise they are one of the most successful publishers of all time?