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What do bestselling writers Sue Grafton, Danielle Steel, Curtis Sittenfeld ("Prep") and Tom Clancy all have in common? They've all been murdered in a manner both gruesome and appropriate to their style. An extremely paranoid Steven King is convinced that he will be the next victim, and so he must leave his heavily-barricaded fortress in Bangor, Maine, to discover" Who's Killing the Great Writers of America?" This hilarious send-up of the world of publishing by the author of "Me and Orson Welles" and "The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun" takes us from Venice to Paris to Maine and offers cameo appearances by Steve Martin, Gerard Depardieu, plus a few surprises
5 hrs. and 42 minutes
2007 Robert Kaplow (P)2019 Phoenix Books
5 hrs. and 42 minutes
2007 Robert Kaplow (P)2019 Phoenix Books
235 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2007
13 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 7, 2025
There is exactly one reason that I checked out Robert Kaplow’s WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA? That reason: it kept coming up on Libby whenever I searched for my favorite author, Curtis Sittenfeld. To dig even deeper, the reason that it kept coming up when I searched for Sittenfeld is that Sittenfeld is one of the authors killed in this book. Weird! I skimmed enough of the existing Goodreads reviews to realize that this was likely not a great book, meaning I went in with few expectations. Even so, I’m here to verify… it’s not a great book. It bills itself as “a Satire”, but I honestly believe people use that word way too loosely. I don’t believe that caricature is inherently satirical, but that’s what Kaplow offers here. And I didn’t find any of it funny.
I wanted to better understand what Kaplow was going for with this book. Kaplow, incidentally, is the author of ME AND ORSON WELLES, which I know better as a movie than as a book, and my dim recollection of the movie is that it was… fine? I don’t know. My point is, I tried searching online for an interview with the author or something and came up with little, except I did find a list he posted of book recommendations in which he offers a short bio in which he claims that WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA? is his funniest novel, and that it not only kills off writers but “simultaneously parodies their style”. Admittedly, I partook of this title as an audiobook, and admittedly I’m not really familiar with the writing of the authors name-checked except for Sittenfeld and Stephen King, but I personally did not perceive the book as mimicking different authorial styles. Yes, King’s sections primarily relate to the overall murder mystery and that is on-brand for him, and yes, Tom Clancy is written as obsessed with guns and American exceptionalism, which I think is also in his wheelhouse, but the writing itself did not evoke different authors.
Also, regarding that biography, Kaplow ends with this statement: “I taught writing for many years, and I’m pleased to report that my students taught me more than anything I ever taught them.” 😐 A less generous critic might seize on this as evidence of the author’s ineptitude. I’m just sayin’.
The story begins following Sue Grafton until she’s dispatched, then turns to Danielle Steele, then to Tom Clancy, with interstitial chapters of Stephen King hearing about the killings and eventually investigating, inadvertently, by tracking his estranged wife. Curtis Sittenfeld doesn’t merit her own chapter, instead sharing space with Steele. This book was published in 2007, though, when she only had PREP and THE MAN OF MY DREAMS under her belt; the book takes place between the publication of those two, with Sittenfeld worrying about how THE MAN OF MY DREAMS would be received. I suppose one could argue that the book takes shots at all of the celebrities it lampoons, but its descriptions of Sittenfeld seem weirdly cruel. She’s first described as “a somewhat lumpy looking woman in her late 20s”, as “the girl at the advanced placement lunch table who just sort of… smelled funny, who tried too hard in her crooked teeth and her clunky shoes, the girl with the exposed midriff who was just a little too hefty to pull it off but felt she had to try anyway.”
I… guess I’m seeing how this is meant to be Sittenfeld-esque now that I’m writing it out. So I’m walking back a little of what I said before about it not evoking the authors. Still, it’s a weird and inaccurate way to describe Curtis Sittenfeld. Is that all that satire is? The old “it’s funny because it’s not true!” rationale? I seriously don’t get it. There’s also a weird aside later claiming that Curtis Sittenfeld had never had vaginal sex. Y’know—satire! Everybody who comments on her writing is also incredibly critical. At one point, Kaplow’s Sittenfeld muses about readers who wrote to her angry that they did not relate to Lee Fiora, the protagonist of PREP: “The book is well written but I hated Lee, she’s such a whiny bitch. I just wanted to tell her to shut up, deal with it, and stop analyzing herself every time she wiped her ass.” Danielle Steele later tells her that Lee is “overweight”, clarifying that she doesn’t mean literally but metaphorically “heavy and plodding” and “increasingly repellent”. A major plot point for Sittenfeld in this book has her encountering a negative review of THE MAN OF MY DREAMS by Janet Maslin, who refers to PREP as “defiantly ordinary” and says that her “embrace of the unremarkable is even clingier” in her new book.
Again, I must ask, what is all this about? It’s a choice to include Curtis Sittenfeld here as opposed to any number of other well-known writers. And Kaplow doesn’t seem to be writing from a place of ignorance, insomuch as he writes knowingly about PREP and refers directly to Hannah Gavener, the protagonist of THE MAN OF MY DREAMS. But I sincerely do not grasp what he’s going for except a critique of, like, how self-critical her protagonists can be? I guess? I don’t know. Even weirder, Sittenfeld’s part of the story ends with her nude and handcuffed to a bedframe, engaging in BDSM with Gérard Depardieu, who is wielding a spinning, gasoline-powered sex toy—an especially uncomfortable plot point given that as of this writing Depardieu is awaiting a verdict in a criminal case against him for sexual assault. The whole thing is bizarre. I’m curious now what the real Sittenfeld thinks of the book.
There’s not much I really care to discuss beyond the portions that relate to Curtis Sittenfeld. I will say, Steve Martin shows up in the book multiple times but is written very broadly, like his “Wild and Crazy” persona from the 1970s, rather than anything in line with his present-day (as of 2007) demeanor. And I guess it’s worth mentioning that the wrap-up to the story as a whole is ridiculous, though not ridiculous in a fun or satisfying way. Instead, ridiculous in a “this is all you could come up with?” way.
A final thing that definitely does bear mention: the audiobook is narrated by Arte Johnson, who has apparently narrated several Dave Barry books and for readers of a certain age may be well-known from ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ (I myself am not a reader of that age, but instead gleaned this info from Wikipedia). I wasn’t terribly fond of Johnson’s narration, though I suppose mostly it was serviceable. I did notice that he generally does not do character “voices” – Grafton, Steele, Sittenfeld, King, Clancy, and more all sound like Arte Johnson with no attempt to differentiate them whatsoever. He does play Steve Martin with a little more of a goofy tinge, although still largely in his own voice. The only exceptions were the few times he voices, ahem, ethnic characters. Those times, Johnson does put on a different voice to do an exaggerated accent. It was a lil uncomfortable. Also notable about Johnson’s performance – and I did see at least one other Goodreads reviewer mention this as well – you can hear him turning the pages. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an audiobook where you could so clearly hear the rustle of pages being flipped as the narrator reads. I don’t know that this is necessarily a bad thing, per se, but it certainly is unusual.
I ended up giving WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA a 2-star rating because, eh, it was… well, fine is probably too strong a word. It wasn’t “fine”, it was mostly bad—but it wasn’t so repulsive that I felt a desire to punish it with a 1-star rating. For me, it was mystifying more than anything.
I wanted to better understand what Kaplow was going for with this book. Kaplow, incidentally, is the author of ME AND ORSON WELLES, which I know better as a movie than as a book, and my dim recollection of the movie is that it was… fine? I don’t know. My point is, I tried searching online for an interview with the author or something and came up with little, except I did find a list he posted of book recommendations in which he offers a short bio in which he claims that WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA? is his funniest novel, and that it not only kills off writers but “simultaneously parodies their style”. Admittedly, I partook of this title as an audiobook, and admittedly I’m not really familiar with the writing of the authors name-checked except for Sittenfeld and Stephen King, but I personally did not perceive the book as mimicking different authorial styles. Yes, King’s sections primarily relate to the overall murder mystery and that is on-brand for him, and yes, Tom Clancy is written as obsessed with guns and American exceptionalism, which I think is also in his wheelhouse, but the writing itself did not evoke different authors.
Also, regarding that biography, Kaplow ends with this statement: “I taught writing for many years, and I’m pleased to report that my students taught me more than anything I ever taught them.” 😐 A less generous critic might seize on this as evidence of the author’s ineptitude. I’m just sayin’.
The story begins following Sue Grafton until she’s dispatched, then turns to Danielle Steele, then to Tom Clancy, with interstitial chapters of Stephen King hearing about the killings and eventually investigating, inadvertently, by tracking his estranged wife. Curtis Sittenfeld doesn’t merit her own chapter, instead sharing space with Steele. This book was published in 2007, though, when she only had PREP and THE MAN OF MY DREAMS under her belt; the book takes place between the publication of those two, with Sittenfeld worrying about how THE MAN OF MY DREAMS would be received. I suppose one could argue that the book takes shots at all of the celebrities it lampoons, but its descriptions of Sittenfeld seem weirdly cruel. She’s first described as “a somewhat lumpy looking woman in her late 20s”, as “the girl at the advanced placement lunch table who just sort of… smelled funny, who tried too hard in her crooked teeth and her clunky shoes, the girl with the exposed midriff who was just a little too hefty to pull it off but felt she had to try anyway.”
I… guess I’m seeing how this is meant to be Sittenfeld-esque now that I’m writing it out. So I’m walking back a little of what I said before about it not evoking the authors. Still, it’s a weird and inaccurate way to describe Curtis Sittenfeld. Is that all that satire is? The old “it’s funny because it’s not true!” rationale? I seriously don’t get it. There’s also a weird aside later claiming that Curtis Sittenfeld had never had vaginal sex. Y’know—satire! Everybody who comments on her writing is also incredibly critical. At one point, Kaplow’s Sittenfeld muses about readers who wrote to her angry that they did not relate to Lee Fiora, the protagonist of PREP: “The book is well written but I hated Lee, she’s such a whiny bitch. I just wanted to tell her to shut up, deal with it, and stop analyzing herself every time she wiped her ass.” Danielle Steele later tells her that Lee is “overweight”, clarifying that she doesn’t mean literally but metaphorically “heavy and plodding” and “increasingly repellent”. A major plot point for Sittenfeld in this book has her encountering a negative review of THE MAN OF MY DREAMS by Janet Maslin, who refers to PREP as “defiantly ordinary” and says that her “embrace of the unremarkable is even clingier” in her new book.
Again, I must ask, what is all this about? It’s a choice to include Curtis Sittenfeld here as opposed to any number of other well-known writers. And Kaplow doesn’t seem to be writing from a place of ignorance, insomuch as he writes knowingly about PREP and refers directly to Hannah Gavener, the protagonist of THE MAN OF MY DREAMS. But I sincerely do not grasp what he’s going for except a critique of, like, how self-critical her protagonists can be? I guess? I don’t know. Even weirder, Sittenfeld’s part of the story ends with her nude and handcuffed to a bedframe, engaging in BDSM with Gérard Depardieu, who is wielding a spinning, gasoline-powered sex toy—an especially uncomfortable plot point given that as of this writing Depardieu is awaiting a verdict in a criminal case against him for sexual assault. The whole thing is bizarre. I’m curious now what the real Sittenfeld thinks of the book.
There’s not much I really care to discuss beyond the portions that relate to Curtis Sittenfeld. I will say, Steve Martin shows up in the book multiple times but is written very broadly, like his “Wild and Crazy” persona from the 1970s, rather than anything in line with his present-day (as of 2007) demeanor. And I guess it’s worth mentioning that the wrap-up to the story as a whole is ridiculous, though not ridiculous in a fun or satisfying way. Instead, ridiculous in a “this is all you could come up with?” way.
A final thing that definitely does bear mention: the audiobook is narrated by Arte Johnson, who has apparently narrated several Dave Barry books and for readers of a certain age may be well-known from ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ (I myself am not a reader of that age, but instead gleaned this info from Wikipedia). I wasn’t terribly fond of Johnson’s narration, though I suppose mostly it was serviceable. I did notice that he generally does not do character “voices” – Grafton, Steele, Sittenfeld, King, Clancy, and more all sound like Arte Johnson with no attempt to differentiate them whatsoever. He does play Steve Martin with a little more of a goofy tinge, although still largely in his own voice. The only exceptions were the few times he voices, ahem, ethnic characters. Those times, Johnson does put on a different voice to do an exaggerated accent. It was a lil uncomfortable. Also notable about Johnson’s performance – and I did see at least one other Goodreads reviewer mention this as well – you can hear him turning the pages. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an audiobook where you could so clearly hear the rustle of pages being flipped as the narrator reads. I don’t know that this is necessarily a bad thing, per se, but it certainly is unusual.
I ended up giving WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA a 2-star rating because, eh, it was… well, fine is probably too strong a word. It wasn’t “fine”, it was mostly bad—but it wasn’t so repulsive that I felt a desire to punish it with a 1-star rating. For me, it was mystifying more than anything.
July 10, 2008
Halfway through it and I'm not very impressed. It's an interesting idea, but I don't like any of the characters. The book is kind of like, if you were writing a story, only instead of just picking Dick & Jane names for your characters, you choose to use famous people's names. It doesn't mean you the characters you write are like those famous people, but it's like you cast these real people to be actors in your book. I'm calling one of my characters Barbara Walters, the character is a famous journalist, with a foul mouth and a penchant for popsicles. We visualize Barbara Walters, but that doesn't mean the actions or the character have any connection to who/how BW really is or acts.
I realize the book is a satire, but it is unrelenting in its negative portrayals, and I'm having a hard time appreciating any perceived wit. The metaphors are heavy handed, and all of the satirized authors so far are just self-absorbed, obnoxious people. Even the incidental characters are self-absorbed, and obnoxious. The only thing keeping me reading another chapter is the question: (not a spoiler): Could Steve Martin really be the murderer?
Finished the book, and the second half was more interesting then the first, probably because he was using authors I have read.
I realize the book is a satire, but it is unrelenting in its negative portrayals, and I'm having a hard time appreciating any perceived wit. The metaphors are heavy handed, and all of the satirized authors so far are just self-absorbed, obnoxious people. Even the incidental characters are self-absorbed, and obnoxious. The only thing keeping me reading another chapter is the question: (not a spoiler): Could Steve Martin really be the murderer?
Finished the book, and the second half was more interesting then the first, probably because he was using authors I have read.
March 25, 2012
Hilarious parody of America's greatest authors. Don't read it for plot and character. Don't read it as commentary on real, living authors. Don't take the word "great" in the title seriously, except perhaps as a parody of greatness by American standards. Read it as commentary on authorial persona, authorial public image, book reviews, and the novels themselves. If you read it that way, you'll laugh all the way through.
March 1, 2017
I really wanted to like this book and I will admit I had a couple laugh out loud moments but ultimately it was just bizarre and I felt like I was in the mind of a crazy person. Interesting idea just poorly executed. Blah
December 31, 2024
Reading a book filled with 200 blank pages of paper would be a better waste of time than this.
January 1, 2021
Okay...this was truly awful. A convoluted, bizarre mess. I can't even be bothered to try and summarize it myself. So--just read the synopsis above.
Just so you know--those writers that were murdered? Yeah, well, they weren't. That's the big twist at the end. [I warned you the review was spoiler-ridden.] What a major let-down. I was all agog wondering if Steve Martin really was the maniacal killer that it seemed he was and figured there was some big twist to do with that....and then I find out that the bodies don't actually belong to the authors we think have been murdered. So...we don't know who the majority of dead people in this book are. Honestly, the only reason I finished the thing is because it was so short and I wanted one more book for my year-end tally.
I can't think of anyone I would recommend this to.... ★ (and that's being generous)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Just so you know--those writers that were murdered? Yeah, well, they weren't. That's the big twist at the end. [I warned you the review was spoiler-ridden.] What a major let-down. I was all agog wondering if Steve Martin really was the maniacal killer that it seemed he was and figured there was some big twist to do with that....and then I find out that the bodies don't actually belong to the authors we think have been murdered. So...we don't know who the majority of dead people in this book are. Honestly, the only reason I finished the thing is because it was so short and I wanted one more book for my year-end tally.
I can't think of anyone I would recommend this to.... ★ (and that's being generous)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2021
I usually avoid writing reviews of books I don't like. I'll make an exception this time.
The author says "although the story is set against a background of actual people and places, those people and places have been completely reimagined in the spirit of parody and burlesque." In other words, don't sue me even though EVERYONE I name in this book is portrayed negatively. The plot, what there is, is thin at the beginning and turns ridiculously porous at the end. The dialogue is uninspired and interchangeable.
I had two questions after I finished the book: 1) Why did I waste my time with this? and 2) What vendetta does the author have against Curtis Sittenfeld? There must have been a personal reason to have included her. I don't mean to imply she isn't a "great writer", but she doesn't have the name recognition of the others. This just felt like a book where the author insulted people he didn't like.
The only reason I'm not giving it zero stars is because I have, unfortunately, read even worse.
The author says "although the story is set against a background of actual people and places, those people and places have been completely reimagined in the spirit of parody and burlesque." In other words, don't sue me even though EVERYONE I name in this book is portrayed negatively. The plot, what there is, is thin at the beginning and turns ridiculously porous at the end. The dialogue is uninspired and interchangeable.
I had two questions after I finished the book: 1) Why did I waste my time with this? and 2) What vendetta does the author have against Curtis Sittenfeld? There must have been a personal reason to have included her. I don't mean to imply she isn't a "great writer", but she doesn't have the name recognition of the others. This just felt like a book where the author insulted people he didn't like.
The only reason I'm not giving it zero stars is because I have, unfortunately, read even worse.
September 1, 2017
Bizarrely funny.
It took longer to read than I thought; I kept leaving it to check which details were based in fact! Mr. Kaplow has a wide knowledge of popular fiction by American authors, and had fun making fun of their styles. (Some I know only from movie versions.)
I've never read Danielle Steel or Curtis Sittenfeld, but now intend to touch on them. There are others I've never read and don't intend to.
Steve Martin? Anne Bancroft? Will they become immortal? They aren't authors, as is not Truffaut either, nor Gerard Depardieu.
I'm worried about the dead bodies.
It took longer to read than I thought; I kept leaving it to check which details were based in fact! Mr. Kaplow has a wide knowledge of popular fiction by American authors, and had fun making fun of their styles. (Some I know only from movie versions.)
I've never read Danielle Steel or Curtis Sittenfeld, but now intend to touch on them. There are others I've never read and don't intend to.
Steve Martin? Anne Bancroft? Will they become immortal? They aren't authors, as is not Truffaut either, nor Gerard Depardieu.
I'm worried about the dead bodies.
June 20, 2023
I stumbled upon this one and couldn't resist seeing what it was like. The promo: "What do bestselling writers Sue Grafton, Danielle Steel, and Tom Clancy all have in common? They've all been murdered in a manner both gruesome and appropriate to their writing style. An extremely paranoid Stephen King is convinced that he will be the next victim, so he leaves his heavily-barricaded fortress in Bangor, Maine, to discover who is bumping off his fellow novelists." It's narrated by Arte Johnson, and it's quite entertaining, even if some of the humor is seventh-grade.
February 22, 2024
Proof that RPF fanfiction can be publishable! The parts following each writer/character are written in a style either in imitation of, or an homage to, that author's real-world writing. And if nothing else, it illustrates the idea that while we might enjoy and/or admire the work of a particular writer, actor, etc., meeting that person might prove disappointing.
Yet, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. For a while, it was looking like the Tonteen or "And Then There Were None." But it winds up resembling "Private Eyes."
Also, the profanity could have been toned down a lot.
Yet, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. For a while, it was looking like the Tonteen or "And Then There Were None." But it winds up resembling "Private Eyes."
Also, the profanity could have been toned down a lot.
February 2, 2026
Wow, satire, yes, but pretty mean-spirited in many parts about these writers. Ouch.
Stephen King is the only one who comes out somewhat okay.
I could give this 2.5 stars if I was judging just the last third. I thought that was the strongest (though no less weird) section.
I would recommend his earlier book Me and Orson Welles and the movie version too.
Will I check out other books by this fellow Rutgers English major classmate? Perhaps.
Stephen King is the only one who comes out somewhat okay.
I could give this 2.5 stars if I was judging just the last third. I thought that was the strongest (though no less weird) section.
I would recommend his earlier book Me and Orson Welles and the movie version too.
Will I check out other books by this fellow Rutgers English major classmate? Perhaps.
September 15, 2022
So explain to me why every tenth word has to be a curse, some sexual innuendo or a character being especially stupid. That was in the first 30 minutes of the book. Rarely do I ever not finish a book but aside from my initial complaints it is poorly written. Disappointed as it had potential to be great.
May 8, 2018
Tongue-in-cheek mystery was waaaaay out there, funny as heck ..... but don't expect a somber real mystery novel!!!
A quick and delightful read ... you'll be entertained by the verbiage itself .....
A quick and delightful read ... you'll be entertained by the verbiage itself .....
April 25, 2019
Horrible
February 11, 2008
This book is the epitome of weird -- so amusing and yet so strange. The most prolific of writers are characters: Danielle Steel, Sue Grafton, Tom Clancy, Stephen King ... and other famous people: Steve Martin, Gerard Depardieu, et cetera. It totally pokes fun at some of the most popular people in the world.
It's like a vicarious revenge on all those writers you envy, who never seem to have a hard time putting words to paper and publishing book after book after book after book.
By far the most amusing, laugh-out-loud part of the book was Tom Clancy's chapter. My fiancé met him online years ago and doesn't have very good things to say about him. Oh, you know, words like "fascist" comes to mind. And Clancy's chapter was exactly as I expected. The description of him matches everything I've ever heard about him, and the fact that Ann Coulter has a cameo in his chapter just makes it all the more funny.
I also like that each author's chapter matches their genre books in a way, and since Stephen King is the one author we follow from the beginning to the end, the entire book naturally ends the way all his books end.
Did I mention that I don't particularly like how Stephen King's books end?
Yeah, well, that.
Stop reading this if you hate spoilers, but as interesting as the book is, as highly amusing and interesting the individual characters are, you follow the somewhat believable story (in the sense that as weird as it is, it still could be plausible) with all the suspense in the world, only to come to a strangely supernatural sort of ending, where suddenly some diabolically evil character that seems to come from some other world or underworld pops up and reveals all.
Like that dark character that always pops up in King's books and makes for a letdown ending.
I never liked that. I still don't. The rest of the book was still pretty good, though.
Oh, and the cover quotes? The absolute best!
Christmas gift from Cousin Zee.
Finished reading February 8, 2008.
It's like a vicarious revenge on all those writers you envy, who never seem to have a hard time putting words to paper and publishing book after book after book after book.
By far the most amusing, laugh-out-loud part of the book was Tom Clancy's chapter. My fiancé met him online years ago and doesn't have very good things to say about him. Oh, you know, words like "fascist" comes to mind. And Clancy's chapter was exactly as I expected. The description of him matches everything I've ever heard about him, and the fact that Ann Coulter has a cameo in his chapter just makes it all the more funny.
I also like that each author's chapter matches their genre books in a way, and since Stephen King is the one author we follow from the beginning to the end, the entire book naturally ends the way all his books end.
Did I mention that I don't particularly like how Stephen King's books end?
Yeah, well, that.
Stop reading this if you hate spoilers, but as interesting as the book is, as highly amusing and interesting the individual characters are, you follow the somewhat believable story (in the sense that as weird as it is, it still could be plausible) with all the suspense in the world, only to come to a strangely supernatural sort of ending, where suddenly some diabolically evil character that seems to come from some other world or underworld pops up and reveals all.
Like that dark character that always pops up in King's books and makes for a letdown ending.
I never liked that. I still don't. The rest of the book was still pretty good, though.
Oh, and the cover quotes? The absolute best!
Christmas gift from Cousin Zee.
Finished reading February 8, 2008.
September 22, 2008
I was disappointed in this -- it sounded like something I'd really like. It's basically a satirical novel in which, as you may have guessed from the title, someone is killing American writers, and they mostly die in ways that mirror deaths in their books. Stephen King sets out to solve the mystery, which ends in a completely bizarre, non-believable way. (OK, believable if it were a King novel, but it's not.)
I found the pacing to be frantic, and the parodies of some of the characters to be a little over the top. It was a fast read (one day, and not a full day of reading by any means), so if you want something quick and brainless this would do it. But I can't say that I would recommend it.
I found the pacing to be frantic, and the parodies of some of the characters to be a little over the top. It was a fast read (one day, and not a full day of reading by any means), so if you want something quick and brainless this would do it. But I can't say that I would recommend it.
March 1, 2009
"Great" is a subjective word in this title. You and I might not think Sue Grafton, Stephen King, Tom Clancy and the other writers who appear in this piece of Real Person Fiction are the great writers of America, but based on book sales, someone obviously does. The characterizations are funny if you don't feel these authors deserve to be on pillars. If you think no one should be able to write fiction about living people, you'll hate this book. There's probably other things you might not like it - it's not thick on plot or setting, all the humor comes from parody and satire, and the ending goes in too many directions. I enjoy RPF, however, and this fast "junk food" read was a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
December 16, 2009
This satirical story was laugh out loud funny. Some of the best contemporary writers in America are dying under extremely suspicious circumstances and Tabitha King has disappeared. Stephen King, concerned that his wife has finally seen the light and realized that she made a mistake marrying him sets out to find her. And, since he is suffering from writer’s block on a plot for his next book decides to solve the mystery of the writers deaths along the way. What totally amazed me about this book was how the author captured the personalities of the authors … whether correctly or incorrectly I do not know … but certainly fitting with their public personas.
September 23, 2013
This is pretty silly stuff, sometimes very funny, sometimes just gross. I listened to Arte Johnson reading, and often wished he would not let me hear him turning the pages, but also liked his comic timing. It helps to be familiar with Sue Grafton, Danielle Steele, Tom Clancy and Stephen King, but whose isn't?
July 23, 2016
Wszystkie wzorce amerykańskie są - jest zamachowiec, uderza w dobro narodowe w postaci pisarzy, jest zwrot akcji, a przy tym wszystko tak przewidywalne i zabawne wcale. Gdyby nie było to w formie audiobooka kiedy radio i tak nie przedstawiało żadnej alternatywy na trasie do pracy - nie dotrwałabym do końca.
February 7, 2015
The audio reading (Arte Johnson) must have enhanced the humour. Brilliantly inventive story. It'll knock your socks off. If this is what genre mystery books are like I've been missing a lot. But I'm certain it is one of a kind. Loved it. Try to get the audio version.
July 26, 2016
This is such a silly, funny book. I was laughing loudly while listening to it. I imagine if you're a fan of Tom Clancy or Sue Grafton or Danielle Steel you might not like that much that your favourite writer's writing style and plots are mocked, but I totally enjoyed it.
May 28, 2008
Too "cute" and not nearly as funny as I'd hoped. Perhaps I'm not literary enough to appreciate the wit...
May 2, 2008
The first half of the book was hilarious. The author kind of lost me towards the end. A fun, easy read.
June 5, 2008
I liked the premise, but it fell flat and I ended up skimming to the end.
August 5, 2008
Started out humorous and paced well. However, it took a very strange, bizarre, and horrible turn and ended up disappointing me VERY, VERY much!
September 9, 2008
It is very seldom that I don't finish a book I start but I was willing to make an exception for this rude, crude book.
May 6, 2009
Narrator: Arte Johnson
Duration: 5:40
A fun listen, which as others have said, fizzled toward the end.
Duration: 5:40
A fun listen, which as others have said, fizzled toward the end.
May 20, 2012
Niepodobała mi się. Autor upodobał sobie ekskrementy i odmienił je we wszystkich formach. Mnie nie bawi puszczanie bąków na filmach więc estetyka tej książki mi definitywnie nie pasuje.
July 14, 2012
I listened to this on a long road trip, read by Arte Johnson (of Laugh-In fame). The hours flew by. Hilarious!
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