To feel a bit ill about David Walliams?

[HelloYouTwo]

Apparently he’s made over £100m from his books.

There are so many better books out there than that pile of repetitive mildly racist, stereotype-laden junk that he peddles off the back of being a bit famous. I feel sorry for all the decent non-celeb authors out there.

News article if anyone interested:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-walliams-sitting-comfortably-in-100-million-book-club-gmp6bwm6b?shareToken=170904334320775f0850152088ce45a1

He is an absolute creep who always has to steal everyone elses thunder and he isnt at all funny.

dolly whats that got to do with his books?

I kind of agree. His books are very overrated. In my view he's trying too hard to be Roald Dahl. I just don't find his books funny though.

I agree OP that a celebrity name gets them the deal. Fearne Cotton appears to have ‘written’ some kind of mental health type books
Because obviously if I was looking for something along those lines Fearne would be top of my list as opposed to someone who actually knows something about it.
I personally don’t like DW’s books and find they seem to endorse certain stereotypes, like Raj, and he clearly would not have got anything published if it wasn’t for his name. But many kids seem to like them. As long as they have access to other books as well, I don’t see the harm in a varied diet as a op put it. Hell, I love a Jilly Cooper which, let’s face it, isn’t the best thing I could read.

Pp not op

I read one of his books with my DN. It was like someone decided Roald Dahl nearly got it right, except that he didn't talk about poo and bums nearly as much as he should have.

My issue is that his books are shit

Says you - 'liking' something is entirely subjective. Lots of people like them.

I can't stand him or his books but plenty of people do. So what.

I thought he was a loathsome, crude and faintly unhinged creep before I knew he wrote books for children. That opinion hasn't changed and I wouldn't contribute to his profits.

If DC read them at School or the library or buy their own copies if they want, fine. But not on my dollar.

In fairness though, not all celebrities books are poor, nor do they deliberately exploit their ties in order to promote themselves. Fergie's 'Budgie the Helicopter' books were so gloriously well written and highly original. And I am soo looking forward to Meghan Markle's first book!

His books are crap. Sentimental, mawkish, 'posh/rich people are twats' twaddle - a kind of children's version of Tony Parsons.

My youngest loved them, and I didn't knock them as I was always happy for my children to read anything at all - but they're still shit, and would never have been published if he weren't vaguely well known.

I'm a writer and I can't say it bothers me one bit. Celeb authors do get kids reading as the name recognition amongst parents is so high; and they bring in money at a difficult time for publishers. If those figures are correct, he'll be earning out his advance which is more than can be said for a lot of them.

Also, you can't really say that DW is dodgy while extolling Roald Dahl

However, David Walliams keeping children engaged in an environment of diminishing literacy seems a reasonably positive thing within that negative context.

That largely assumes that if there’s a problem with diminishing literacy these books are part of the solution not the cause.

Like I said, it’s unlikely to be an issue in readers who read widely alongside them. It’s just worth thinking about whether all reading is actually improving literacy or whether badly written books might be appealing to reluctant/struggling readers because they are easy to access.

It is an unfair system. Maybe he would not have been published if he wasn't already a name. But he did get published. A lot of people may have bought his first book because they've heard of him but you only buy someone's book for the first time once. They won't have kept buying his books at these levels if their children didn't enjoy them. Lots of children love them so the books keep selling.

That largely assumes that if there’s a problem with diminishing literacy these books are part of the solution not the cause.

I don’t think they’re the cause. Far from it.

The causes are more the power of retail giants like Tesco, Amazon - rise of TV, VOD, video games - all contributing to a culture where books and book selling aren’t valued.

If anything, mega sellers like Walliams are keeping publishers afloat in tough times.

I wish there was more variety in the mainstream. But it’s not Walliams fault that this is not the case.

The books are shit to YOU. Kids obviously love them so he has a talent for writing kids books. Just because he was famous before that, doesn’t make it bad. You sound bitter as fuck and not very nice.

I'm a library assistant and am depressed by the limited range of books purchased by my cash-strapped local authority that has contracted out book buying to a commercial company. I'm depressed by the sexist marketing of sparkly fairy/unicorn books to girls and sci-fi/football to boys.

Now that is depressing.

Good for him. I suppose if Labour win next month all these writers who do well will leave due to new massive taxes.

Oh come on, if most mothers on this thread aren't buying them, who is?

Good for him. I suppose if Labour win next month all these writers who do well will leave due to new massive taxes.

Oh please

They all spout that shit and then stay put. Empty threats doesn’t cover it.

I don't think David Walliams earning money from writing books is anything to feel ill about. Good for him. I'm always glad when people are doing well. Do you feel the same way about J K Rowling?

Maybe his fame has helped the sale of his books but so what, I wish people were not resentful.

I work in public libraries. Much as I can't stand David Walliams (or Matt Lucas, hated Little Britain) his books fall into the category of 'books children choose to read' as opposed to 'books parents think their children ought to read'.

It is easy to fit children's author's into one or other category by monitoring whether children choose a second book by the same author after their parents have persuaded them to try a first.

Children come back for more David Walliams. They come back for more Roald Dahl. More Jeff Kinney. More Liz Pichon. More Jacqueline Wilson.

JK Rowling not so much. The first Harry Potter still issues regularly but the second onwards much more rarely.

It is what it is. You can't force them to read what they don't want to read.

My concern is about the fact that it’s incredibly difficult to get published at the best of time- but getting progressively more difficult as more and more people famous in other areas get in on the act.

I doubt that David Walliams getting published stops other meritorious authors from being published. If anything, by enabling publishers to stay in business by writing popular books he improves their chances.

I think we need a law banning celebs using ghostwriters, personally. However if we had a ban in the uk they'd probably just outsource abroad.

Yanbu. The books are terrible.