They're both shitty writers. Check out the excerpts from Bill Clinton's hotly anticipated autobiography on the New York Time's Web site (caution: registration required).
I'm just annoyed. They gave him a $10 million advance for writing that basically resembles the stream-of-consciousness rantings of a teenager? I nearly burst out into hysterics when I read the first paragraph. Hey Bill -- it's called an editor. Use them (and not in that way).
The rhythm and pacing is all wrong, it doesn't have any hook or draw into his life (and if you think about it, that's a damned shame because I know a lot of people who would've loved to have read his view on stuff). It basically reads like a 13-year-old writing a journal about their feelings and what they did that day. It's crap writing.
Random House also deserves to get bitch-slapped for letting this piece of work go through without a clean-up job. Just because someone's a celeb doesn't give them a free pass to inflict painful writing on the world.
3 comments:
Aw, it's not horrible. Not good, but he's not a professional writer, just an-ex president writing his life story, so I cut him some slack in that area. For REAL crap stream-of-consciousness writing, check out Elizabeth Wurtzel.
Dude, I'm a writing snob. I don't dig shitty writing in general and for a $10 million advance, you'd think that an editor would be included. But I'm just bitter that these people get cool advances and we get dick.
I hear ya, but I figure it's more about the story than Clinton's florid prose. He's a libidinous ex-president selling his memoirs, that's a $10 million dollar story right there.
-k
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