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 has worked really hard to be this successful. He is a prolific author. He has tapped into a zeitgeist that is popular and he has created an image around himself that makes people want to buy his books. I think we should be proud of him. Britain continues to top the international league tables on children's literature and that means continuing to produce world-famous authors.

I'm no fan of David Walliams (he has always given me the creeps tbh), and I get that his celebrity status has enabled his writing, but how/where is he 'mildly racist' in his books?

RuffleCrow - why? All that would do is put people like me out of a job.

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

Exactly

We love his books! He's a modern day Roald Dahl IMO

OPs point that DW wouldn’t be published if he wasn’t famous misses the point that publishers don’t publish based on quality, they publish based on saleability. Barry Loser being a case in point. What even is that? It’s barely legible. It is utter excrement but my DS thinks it’s utterly gripping so at the end of the day I’m wrong and the publisher got it spot on.

My dc enjoyed his books well enough but I always thought they were awful to read aloud which to me is a sign of a poorly written book. They were like poor rip offs of Roald Dahl stories. And I personally like David Walliams as an entertainer - just not as a novelist.

Does he actually write them himself? Not just give an outline and them some unfortunate has to do the groundwork?

how does he entertain he can only make people laugh by being crude or upstaging them.

He tries to get a laugh by acting gay. A true performer/entertainer wouldnt need to do that.

You'd still have a job @theseaisbrightfromhere and you'd actually get some credit.

The books would say:

Inspired by an idea from David Walliams

Written by theseaisbrightfromhere

Much more honest.

DD was given ‘Worlds Worst Children’. It was terrible and yes also a bit racist. I read about the South East Asian kid (Tony Wong?) and wondered if the book had been written in the 1970s.

Racist? Would you like to elaborate?

The kind of person who uses such phrases liberally are not the kind of people who will elaborate, it's the 'shut down' trite phrase.

I am happy with my DC reading David Walliams' books.
My DS who hates reading enjoys the books and they are the only books he can engage with and enjoy at the moment.
DD who is an avid reader also thoroughly enjoys them.
She also reads Dahl and other authors.

Can’t talk about racism in the books because I haven’t read them, but Little Britain has not aged well, shall we say from a racist and sexist perspective.........

Lots of books have uncomfortable topics in them, it’s a good chance to talk to children about them. We have just started reading Goodnight Mr Tom together and I know that will raise some questions - as it should, it’s one of the great things about reading!

I don’t think anyone is objecting to uncomfortable topics.....

It's not a problem with the topic of racism @sirzy, people here clearly feel it is the writing itself which has racist undertones. That's a different kettle of fish entirely from a book written to provoke questions and stimulate discussion.

I just think they are Roal Dahl ( I may have spelt his first name wrong sorry) rip offs!
I am sure they are popular with some children but not all. I was brought up with Enid Blyton and pony books ( was obsessed with horses) but my friends preferred si fi. As long as kids read I don't see a problem but i do get fed with every other celeb / actor churning out adult literature that gets published because of who they are when a lot of it is dross. I guess a lot of publishers are struggling and they know that a name we know will sell.
It's a shame for the writers that are not famous.

RuffleCrow - I certainly wouldn't want that (I'm a ghost because I like the anonymity), but I guess some would. The thing is, if you're a successful ghost, you can write anything in any voice but you don't have to like it, or even think it's worth publishing. There might be a smaller pool than you would imagine who would want their name on it, or books like it.

Publishers also generally feel that audiences don't like two names on the cover, especially in that format, so it could affect marketing and sales. I genuinely feel that his books making so much isn't a bad thing and, as far as I know, he did write the early ones (might be wrong on that as the publisher who told me might be wrong herself!).

This journalist agrees with you OP

susanelkin.co.uk/articles/celeb-authors-stick-day-job-please/

This journalist agrees with you OP

susanelkin.co.uk/articles/celeb-authors-stick-day-job-please/
That's an excellent article. Sums it up perfectly.

I take it you're not one of the many living on a penny per word then @theseaisbrightfromhere!

You sound like you're one of the priviledged few. I'm also a writer and would hate to see a David Walliams raking in the big bucks from my hard graft. Who cares if he wrote the first couple of books? That doesn't excuse his greed and laziness thereafter. If he wants to be Roald Dahl he should get in the shed and not come out until he's written a BFG or a James and the Giant Peach.

But i guess as long as there are people willing to pander to his ego he will continue.

£100m made by being ripping off Roald Dahl. Nice work if you can get it.

I heard about this on radio 4 and it really stuck with me. It’s never been so hard to be an undiscovered author.

There seems to be a theory that parents are utter morons who can only choose books if they have heard of the author. Or if the cover is bright with silly writing.

It’s depressing, frankly

Dahl rip offs. He gives me the creeps too. Always has.
Watched "The Boy in A Dress". Wtf was that camper than camp referee all about?