I shouldn't even be commenting on books, given I still owe Leah and the site a more in-depth review of Why Do People Love America? (Louis Chunovic), but I haven't finished it yet (I've started it, then been sidetracked by work or health, leaving a sufficent enough time gap to start it again, repeat, repeat, repeat). The worst part of it all is that it's a good book, not a chore to read. I have a few friends in the States who've already set up reminders for themselves to get it once it's for sale on Amazon there, based on a recommendation from someone who hasn't even finished it. And I've also corresponded with the author. So buy the book! Andrew has efficiently packed it and all my other books (both those I've edited and ones I've read or have yet to read for pleasure) in boxes, along with other belongings that he decided I didn't need to use any time soon. Of course, the boxes aren't labeled, so it's going to be a treasure hunt when it comes to unpacking. Sigh. I can't complain--he's in better shape to do the packing, beggars can't be choosers, etc.
ANYWAY...I think James Patterson is THE most overrated writer in the crime/suspense/etc. department. He sucks, imo. His writing style reminds me of the old grammar books that were big in elementary schools in the 70s. "See Dick run. See Jane admire Dick. See Spot and Jane admire Dick. See Dick and Jane get married. See Dick punch Jane in a fit of drunken rage. See Jane go to a home for victims of domestic violence." Okay, maybe he's not THAT simplistic, but he's close.
I read one book by Dean King (I can't even remember the title, but I felt compelled to finish it once I'd started it, even though it was out and out stupid--a few hours of my life I can never get back).
New-Dawn, after all the hype about The Celestine Prophecy (or Prophecies?), reading it was a HUGE letdown. It was just a bit TOO holistic (one of those books whose fans will insist that if you don't like it, you don't GET it). BS. It's the end result of many needlessly killed trees.
Alicia, I read a copy of The Rules an old roommate of mine had. A couple of them actually made sense, but for the most part, they were sad/pathetic, and manipulative. What I find ironic (and also very funny) is that the husband of one of the authors recently filed for divorce, and I read that she's blaming her marital breakdown on (and consequently taking her dentist to court for) bad cosmetic dental work. Of COURSE that's the reason her husband wants to end the marriage--an issue as deep as her front teeth extending a bit farther than he'd like. So the self-proclaimed "how to get and keep your man" expert's marriage has collapsed, and the best reason she can come up with is to say that bad dental work caused irreconcilable differences between them. Right. (This has me terrified that Andrew's going to divorce me because I have a hangnail.) Btw, I'm not insulting anyone who's been divorced or is going through a divorce. A marriage these days is as likely to fail as it is to work. What I find LUDICROUS is the fact that a woman who made a fortune on a book (and sequel as well, I believe) telling women how to manipulate their way into everlasting happiness blames the collapse of her marriage on something as superficial as the state of her teeth. Give me a break.
In the journalism field, I always thought Bob Woodward was incredibly boring, as well as full of sh*t. He and Bernstein may have uncovered the Watergate scandal, but if you've ever read any excerpts from Woodward's books (for instance, about the life of John Belushi, or his insider's scoop on the workings of the Bush administration), you'll see that he also has a very dogmatic, simplistic, "See Spot run" style. And in the excerpts (I've never bothered buying or reading an entire book of his--I've just read excerpts in the Washington Post), he'll quote the friend of a friend of a friend verbatim, about something that happened 10 years ago, as if everyone has multiple-paragraph recall of hour-long conversations that occurred decades before. Everything is hearsay with him, or from an unnamed source, etc. He'd probably be better off as a fiction writer, although he'd no doubt rank up (or should I say down) there with James Patterson.
Enough babbling...
