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

I thought reading the title of this thread, that he'd been found guilty of something awful.

well, he's made a lot of money. THAT is a hideous crime for some people on this forum

He was (or is) married to a top model, he did pretty well.

Yep I packed 1300 of his books yesterday,another 300 this morning. We've had several lots this week

At least it keeps me in a job.... for a while

YANBU. For those who think it's fine for him to make so much money from his books and suggest the OP gets a notebook and biro to write a better one, sadly, it doesn't work like that. Many many authors have written better books than Walliams but his hog the shelf space and piblishing budget. His books sell not because they are any good but because he is a celebrity. Which means books by better writers who aren't famous don't get put on the shelves and so don't sell. His publishers can;t afford to pay better but lesser known writers because their budget is tied up with his work. Vicious circle. Most parents and children want a bit more diversity. My DC hated Walliams' writing. Gansta effing Granny is almost unreadable. I tried to read it to my children and the syntax was so poor I gave up. Whereas if you pick up a book by Louis Sachar or Anthony Horowitz (also best sellers) it's easy to read aloud because they are so beautifully written.

I’m sure publishers will exploit it laurie. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing and we should just accept it on the basis that ‘as long as children are reading something it’s fine.’

What an unpleasant thread this has turned into.

But Sirzy don’t you think they might sell so well because the publishers pour so much money into marketing them. There’s a reason they get put on the table at the front of the WH Smith stores or at the end of supermarket aisles and that’s because the publisher paid for the placement.

Sure, but why pick on him? There are far better clothes designers than Victoria Beckham who get nowhere because they didn't get famous from being in shit pop groups. There are better puzzle gurus than Carol Voderman, but she's getting richer from selling crap sudoku tactics books, even though Sodoku has fuck all to do with math. Life isn't fair. Publishers etc want to market what they think will sell.

We love his books. Really helped my 8 year old who is a reluctant reader and my 6 year old who has spent a lot of time in hospital loves the midnight gang.

There are better books but the demand is on the buyers who buy for whatever reason.

Are his books shit? My reluctant reader DD loved them and she had no idea who he was so there was no celebrity element to her loving them. I am way happier that someone who encourages kids to read earning buckets of money than some other high earners.

I agree BillieEilish. This was supposed to be about celebs taking space from other authors. I didn’t intend my title to be inflammatory as I hadn’t thought about DW in any other context than his writing abilities.

I’m happy to have a bit of back and forth about opinions or what constitutes a crap book but it wasn’t intended to be a persona attack on him.

I’m sure publishers will exploit it laurie. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing and we should just accept it on the basis that ‘as long as children are reading something it’s fine.’

I’m not sure how much publishers can do about the fact that there’s diminishing demand for decent bookshops. And I agree that’s not a good thing.

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

I hear you.

Look at the Kardashians. Paid for having fake oversized arses and plastic faces and zero talent, just drama.

My 8 year old son absolutely loves Walliams. I love them too . Laugh out loud and joyfully silly. I’m not a fan of the man but will buy all the books after reading bad Dad and the Ice Monster.

My issue is that his books are shit and they only got published because he was already a celebrity.

But thats only YOUR opinion on where his books are any good or not.
Surely you understand that others may disagree.The number of children who are buying and reading his books may well not have your opinion. I haven't read them as they aren't aimed at me, and my dd is too old for them. However some of the children where i teach read them and they enjoy them, as is their right to do so.

Regardless of why they were initially published, if enough people didn't enjoy them they wouldn't sell and he'd have far less money from them. No one forces anyone to buy them after all. Clearly many people do enjoy them.

Also most kids won't have a clue who David Walliams other than as an author of the books. They won't have seen him beforehand doing TV, etc.

Have you ever tried to make a child read a big book they aren't enjoying?
You can hardy force them!

Whether anyone DW or finds him "creepy" isnt really the point here is it? Children usually know what they like .My DM loved the Just William books by Richmal Crompton , these were first published in 1922 .When I was little I loved Enid Blyton first FF book published 1942 . I was a child in the sixties and mum in the 30s.Many children today like something a little bit cheeky maybe .BTW The poster who felt DW "bullied" SC had me laughing out loud! Cant see SC being bullied by anyone!

He's done well given that they are complete and utter crap.

I think most kids will know him from Britain’s Got Talent too, won’t they?

Why hasnt Quentin Blake punched Tony Ross yet is the real question

I think most kids will know him from Britain’s Got Talent too, won’t they?

You do realise its not obligatory to watch BGT?

Yes we noted it’s racism (stereotypical Asian shopkeeper with stereotypical accent in audio books, doing dodgy deals on out of date food), it’s trying to be Dahl but isn’t hitting the mark

This.

Not RTFT but I’ve always found him weird but after the event that hit the news where the waitresses were told to wear mini skirts and high heels for some awards dinner thing he was keynote speaker at I’ve loathed him since.

Plus the Hippo that went to the Moon is dogshit.

I think most kids will know him from Britain’s Got Talent too, won’t they?

Primary school kids? I am sure some kids watch that, but none of my youngest kids or their friends has any idea what that is.

So no, most kids have no idea who he is, or care for that matter.

I enjoyed reading Ronald Dahl’s darkly humorous adult short stories ithe ‘60s. Twenty years later I was surprised that he had cornered the children’s market with much lauded books. I read several with a beady eye looking for signs of the same dark wit as in Kiss Kiss and found shades of it there.
Lesser known and shorter Dahl books are The Magic Finger, (anti game shooting) and The Twits (children in fits of laughter). His books certainly hit the spot for many young readers.

I really enjoyed tv adaptations of Mr Stink and Gangsta Granny so read a few of DW’s books which I thought were ok but not likely to stay in the memory as do Dahl’s. Superficial in comparison but if they get children reading perhaps I shouldn’t be too negative.

Should I dig out that children’s book under the bed and submit it to a publisher? Or is online the way?

I’m not a writer by the way! But do you really think that if unknown nobody David Walliams had sat down with his biro and pad of A4 and sent the result to an agent that he would have had the same success?!

You mean the unknown nobody that was JK Rowling ? and the many many successful well paid authors out there