BOOK BROWSING
I was looking through a pile of US hardback books. I picked up a couple that had semi-appealing titles. The first was Weep No More My Brother:
"Set in the rural South, Sterling Watson's WNMMB is a stark, brilliantly told story of a young man who believes he can redeem himself only by avenging the death of the brother he loved. When Farel Odum comes to a North Florida state prison as a teacher, he does so with the intention of seeking the death of an inmate who ten years before had murdered his older brother Charles in cold blood. It was Charles whom Farel adored and in whose shadow he had willingly lived... (and so on and so forth in the same vein)...
This blurb was in the front cover. On the back cover is the author's biography:
Sterling Watson was born in Kansas in 1947, where his father was attending the University Law School. His mother was a Mormon girl born and raised in Moab, Utah. Mr Watson has a BA in literature from Florida Presbyterian College and an MA in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Florida. He has taught almost continuously since leaving college - including a stint at a Florida state prison...
So, his work of fiction is a thinly disguised autobiography. You can imagine how bad it is.
The same applies to And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You:
AMSKWBTY follows sexy Sarah Jean Pixlie as she catapults from struggling back-up singer to blazing star on the country music scene... No matter what befalls her, she pours her irreverant, savvy soul into the lyrics of the songs she writes.
Surprise, surprise, the author of this work is "A singer and songwriter living in San Fransciso".
Why do publishing houses print this stuff? Also, while I'm sure neither writer gave up their day job, is it possible that their respective novels earnt them much additional income? I'd love to know.
I was looking through a pile of US hardback books. I picked up a couple that had semi-appealing titles. The first was Weep No More My Brother:
"Set in the rural South, Sterling Watson's WNMMB is a stark, brilliantly told story of a young man who believes he can redeem himself only by avenging the death of the brother he loved. When Farel Odum comes to a North Florida state prison as a teacher, he does so with the intention of seeking the death of an inmate who ten years before had murdered his older brother Charles in cold blood. It was Charles whom Farel adored and in whose shadow he had willingly lived... (and so on and so forth in the same vein)...
This blurb was in the front cover. On the back cover is the author's biography:
Sterling Watson was born in Kansas in 1947, where his father was attending the University Law School. His mother was a Mormon girl born and raised in Moab, Utah. Mr Watson has a BA in literature from Florida Presbyterian College and an MA in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Florida. He has taught almost continuously since leaving college - including a stint at a Florida state prison...
So, his work of fiction is a thinly disguised autobiography. You can imagine how bad it is.
The same applies to And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You:
AMSKWBTY follows sexy Sarah Jean Pixlie as she catapults from struggling back-up singer to blazing star on the country music scene... No matter what befalls her, she pours her irreverant, savvy soul into the lyrics of the songs she writes.
Surprise, surprise, the author of this work is "A singer and songwriter living in San Fransciso".
Why do publishing houses print this stuff? Also, while I'm sure neither writer gave up their day job, is it possible that their respective novels earnt them much additional income? I'd love to know.
