Stephen Leather - Always This Sloppy?

[CrankyCarrot]

I've read a couple of Thailand based books by Stephen Leather recently - Bangkok Bob #1 and the one he co-authored with Warren Olson, Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye - and my god, does he have some vendetta against proof-reading and editing or something?

Bangkok Bob seems to have at least one or two typos per chapter, and the repetition in Confessions was so constant you could make a drinking game out of it.

I find the subject matter interesting, living here and whatnot, and the overall story in the Bob yarn was compelling enough, but the writing and repetition was often painful.

I see in the jacket he's written like 15 other books prior to these, though most weren't independently published or set in Thailand. Are they all riddled with typos and rehashed bits too?

With a bit more polish, they'd make for a much better read.

I wouldn't normally bother posting about something as trivial as this, but it just irritated the bejesus out of me to see a supposedly professional writer putting out such slipshod work.

Anyone else notice this?

[BookMan]

Hey CrankyCarrot

U could also try this thread on 'What Books Are people reading now?"

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/560701-what-books-are-people-reading-now/page__st__150#entry5555171

[xen]

Haven"tt reed steph(hen Leather long time now andd I agree that poof reeding is importent butt i too need to impruve two

[chrisinth]

I thought the OP was about the title of his new book...............

[CrankyCarrot]

@Bookman - With a handle like yours I guess your advice on reading lists would probably be pretty sound. I'll have a look through. Cheers. Nice mutt by the way.

@Xen - On internet forums typos are par for the course. When I'm reading a professionally published book by a veteran writer with almost 20 titles to his name it seems a bit less excusable to run across them every other page. Plus I don't pay to read what someone writes on the net.

@Chrisinth - That might be the subtitle for Bangkok Bob #2

If I had 50 Baht for every time the phrases; "I've never understood why some guys continue to send money to bar girls after they return to their home countries..." or "I thought he was throwing good money after bad," appear in the Confessions book, I'd have enough to purchase Leather's full collection of books brand new, in hard back. Probably autographed too since he seems to enjoy writing the same thing over and over and over again.

I must be a glutton for punishment because I still feel like reading Private Dancer, which I think had the most praise heaped on it. I do enjoy the content for the most part. I just wish he'd iron out the litany of basic typographical errors, knock off the repetition and choose a new adjective once in a while (can air-conditioning be described as something other than "blisteringly cold" just once?)

Oh yeah - and for the love of good taste - nix the cheesy pictures of himself dressed as a detective with bar girls flanking him on the cover. The girls are fine, but I doubt his double chinned mug is helping move too many copies.

There. That was cathartic.

Edited August 9, 2012 by CrankyCarrot

[Ulysses G.]

The only book that I have read by Leather was Private Dancer and when I read it, he had not published it in book form. You had to print it out on typing paper, so I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. His fiction does not interest me for some reason.

To be honest, I do not think that I would even notice a few typos or repetitions if the story and other writing was good enough.

[Pormax]

I have read many of Stephen Leather's books. Not the ones about Thailand but crime/thrillers and found them a very good entertaining read.

however I too wonder why proof readers miss so many errors in books generally..

[jayboy]

Stephen Leather is toast following the Guardian story about authors who lie and bully.I see from Twitter that Bangkok IP addresses have been used to attempt the details being entered in his Wikipedia entry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/05/nick-cohen-cheating-authors-journalists

Still I would have thought he has a natural constituency among many Thai Visa readers.Personally I find his novels second rate bilge.

[CrankyCarrot]

@Jayboy - Likely... "Jayboy" is probably just another pseudonym and you are Stephen Leather yourself - drumming up business with some unorthodox, yet elaborate scheme!

I hate to point it out, but there was a typo in the second sentence of the par related to Leather too.

Edited August 13, 2012 by CrankyCarrot

[londoedan]

Stephen Leather is toast following the Guardian story about authors who lie and bully.I see from Twitter that Bangkok IP addresses have been used to attempt the details being entered in his Wikipedia entry.

http://www.guardian....ors-journalists

Still I would have thought he has a natural constituency among many Thai Visa readers.Personally I find his novels second rate bilge.

Too true - I read P Dancer a few years back and thought it was crap (why people recommend it for its insight into Thailand and its nightlife I don't know - it seems to be written by and for juveniles).

Recently I was stuck at an airport in China and the English language titles in their bookshops are appaling - anyway I bought and read Midnight - easily the worst book I've ever read - execrable IMHO.

What's so depressing is going into 2nd book-shops in Thailand and seeing the shelves full of crap by this author and his ilk.

[Shaksey]

His Thrillers are pretty good pulp fiction, disengage brain type fodder. Also full of plot holes but an easy read and quite exciting with good pace and action.