“Celebrity Novelists - love them or hate them?Ethan Hawke, Hugh Laurie, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Fry....should celebrities just stick to their thing or what?”
“No way! Certainly most of the British "celebrity comedian" novelists have churned out some great books, most of which you'll find on my shelf. I've really enjoyed all of them, even Manners, which the author Rob Newman has almost disowned now. If you look at my shelf you'll find novels by:-David BaddielRob NewmanStewart LeeRobert LlewellynAdrian EdmondsonStephen FryBen EltonMichael PalinAll of whom started out performing comedy in some form, and all of whom (in my opinion) have also turned out a decent book or 2.But then as comedians, they already have some form of talent for writing...”
“To be honest, this is the only celebrity novelist authored book that I have read, but I enjoyed it. I had heard that he did a lot of writing for some series he had worked on in the UK. I didn't think that it was bad, but I had a hard time not picturing Greg House MD as the main character.I guess I did read a collection of short stories by Ethan Coen and it wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.”
“I read The Gun Seller long enough ago that I don't remember anything about it, other than that I enjoyed it. I've also enjoyed all my Stephen Fry books. (Okay, I admit it: I started Paperweight last millennium and never got more than a quarter of the way through it.) On the other hand, I've got a book by Dirk Bogarde that didn't do anything but annoy me, and a few books by Alan Titchmarsh that I suppose I could take or leave. I haven't really answered the question, have I? I guess my wholly unsatisfactory response would be, "Depends."P.S. You mention Craig Ferguson. What has he written, and is it any good?”
