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Post by theotherjosh on Mar 28, 2017 13:52:48 GMT
I wasn't sure if this should go here or general discussion. Mods, please move it if it's in the wrong place.
I was discussing this topic with some friends and I thought I would pose the question to a larger and more diverse group.
Who do you consider the most famous living author in the English-speaking world today? In this context, I'm looking for people who became famous through their writing, not someone who became famous and then wrote a book, like Obama or the Pope.
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Post by charlesuirdhein on Mar 28, 2017 14:19:40 GMT
I wasn't sure if this should go here or general discussion. Mods, please move it if it's in the wrong place. I was discussing this topic with some friends and I thought I would pose the question to a larger and more diverse group. Who do you consider the most famous living author in the English-speaking world today? In this context, I'm looking for people who became famous through their writing, not someone who became famous and then wrote a book, like Obama or the Pope. Well, are we talking sales or actually being good? Because those are very different things, to different people. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 14:53:14 GMT
I wasn't sure if this should go here or general discussion. Mods, please move it if it's in the wrong place. I was discussing this topic with some friends and I thought I would pose the question to a larger and more diverse group. Who do you consider the most famous living author in the English-speaking world today? In this context, I'm looking for people who became famous through their writing, not someone who became famous and then wrote a book, like Obama or the Pope. Well, are we talking sales or actually being good? Because those are very different things, to different people. The question does say famous, not best.  I'd say J.K. Rowling for the sheer number of widespread sales. Philosopher's Stone has outsold The Hobbit, Alice In Wonderland, any Narnia, any Agatha Christie. A titan. |
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Post by theotherjosh on Mar 28, 2017 15:01:35 GMT
I wasn't sure if this should go here or general discussion. Mods, please move it if it's in the wrong place. I was discussing this topic with some friends and I thought I would pose the question to a larger and more diverse group. Who do you consider the most famous living author in the English-speaking world today? In this context, I'm looking for people who became famous through their writing, not someone who became famous and then wrote a book, like Obama or the Pope. Well, are we talking sales or actually being good? Because those are very different things, to different people.
I was thinking fame in the sense of name recognition as an author, but apply whatever metric you think most appropriate.
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Post by kimalysong on Mar 28, 2017 15:15:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 15:35:20 GMT
Stephen King has to be a runner up to Rowling for me. His books might not be quite as newsworthy in 2017 but the sheer amount of them that were bestsellers, and turned into major shows and movies usually with King's name in the title, means he's gotta be up there on sales and name value. There was a period in the 80s when all you had to do to get the greenlight in Hollywood was get "Stephen King's_____" in your title. Danielle Steel may have sold more but she's done so to a very specific group, namely women of a certain age and she's never crossed over into pop culture. I'm also not sure her name value is what it was even with her own market compared to say 20 years ago and her sales won't continue long after her death the way others will. Would many under 30 know Danielle Steel?
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Post by theotherjosh on Mar 28, 2017 15:36:23 GMT
I figured it had to be J.K. Rowling. As Davy said, Harry Potter is a juggernaut. Plus Rowling is quite adept with social media and has quite the presence in that sphere.
A number of my friends said Stephen King, but I think his time has passed. Somebody else said Dan Brown and there were a few votes for Nicholas Sparks and Salman Rushdie.
My daughter said, "Bill Gates. He wrote a lot of code and he's the world's richest person, so he probably wrote a lot of checks!" She's technically correct within the criteria I gave her, and as a Futurama tells us, that's the best kind of correct.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 15:43:58 GMT
I figured it had to be J.K. Rowling. As Davy said, Harry Potter is a juggernaut. Plus Rowling is quite adept with social media and has quite the presence in that sphere. A number of my friends said Stephen King, but I think his time has passed. Somebody else said Dan Brown and there were a few votes for Nicholas Sparks and Salman Rushdie. My daughter said, "Bill Gates. He wrote a lot of code and he's the world's richest person, so he probably wrote a lot of checks!" She's technically correct within the criteria I gave her, and as a Futurama tells us, that's the best kind of correct. If The Dark Tower does well as a blockbuster film, we could see a Kingassaince of interet in his work. He's always sold well though, even if it's preaching the choir often, it's a rather large, dedicated choir to have Dan Brown's certainly up there despite his prose being about as good as reading the side of a tube of toothpaste. Only not that interesting or factual. It can't be denied how huge the Da Vinci Code was though so, yeah, he's gotta be in the conversation. |
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Post by kimalysong on Mar 28, 2017 15:57:22 GMT
I always thought Neil Gaiman was better known than he is. I guess in "Nerd Circles" people definitely know who he is but I am surprised how a lot of people have no idea who he is. Their loss though.
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Post by theotherjosh on Mar 28, 2017 16:02:44 GMT
If The Dark Tower does well as a blockbuster film, we could see a Kingassaince of interet in his work. He's always sold well though, even if it's preaching the choir often, it's a rather large, dedicated choir to have Dan Brown's certainly up there despite his prose being about as good as reading the side of a tube of toothpaste. Only not that interesting or factual. It can't be denied how huge the Da Vinci Code was though so, yeah, he's gotta be in the conversation. I grew up reading King's books (to the chagrin of my parents) and in his heyday he was absolutely synonymous with the horror genre. A friend pointed out that how odd it was that one of the most famous authors in the English-speaking world is the exemplar of a genre that doesn't get a lot of respect. The other funny thing is that I realized I always assumed that he wasn't as popular abroad as other authors, because his settings and voice are so distinctly American. I guess that was not the case, though. Are you looking forward to the Dark Tower movies? |
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Post by theotherjosh on Mar 28, 2017 16:07:36 GMT
I always thought Neil Gaiman was better known than he is. I guess in "Nerd Circles" people definitely know who he is but I am surprised how a lot of people have no idea who he is. Their loss though.
I recall a few years back he was called "The most famous writer you've never heard of". Yeah, huge geek appeal, but not as well-known as he should be outside those circles. He's poised for a big mainstream breakthrough though, what with American Gods on the horizon.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 16:23:25 GMT
If The Dark Tower does well as a blockbuster film, we could see a Kingassaince of interet in his work. He's always sold well though, even if it's preaching the choir often, it's a rather large, dedicated choir to have Dan Brown's certainly up there despite his prose being about as good as reading the side of a tube of toothpaste. Only not that interesting or factual. It can't be denied how huge the Da Vinci Code was though so, yeah, he's gotta be in the conversation. I grew up reading King's books (to the chagrin of my parents) and in his heyday he was absolutely synonymous with the horror genre. A friend pointed out that how odd it was that one of the most famous authors in the English-speaking world is the exemplar of a genre that doesn't get a lot of respect. The other funny thing is that I realized I always assumed that he wasn't as popular abroad as other authors, because his settings and voice are so distinctly American. I guess that was not the case, though. Are you looking forward to the Dark Tower movies? I love the casting. McConaughey and Elba? I'd probably see any film with both of them in it. I dont know much about the buzz, but that it's not a straight adaptation of the books. King was certainly huge here. At school book report time I remember as many people reading The Tommyknockers or Carrie as there were Sunset Song, Dickens or any other more literary works. Gaiman is someone I almost forget isn't a household name as in the circles I've moved in for decades he's always been revered, especially Sandman, Stardust and American Gods. And Neverwhere was a show I, and most of my friends loved in the 90s, so he's always been a "name" to me subjectively. I'd add Terry Pratchett as someone who was an absolute titan to his millions of readers yet with limited crossover to others. |
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Post by charlesuirdhein on Mar 28, 2017 16:56:51 GMT
WE are going down western-ish authors here though? I mean there's a billion Chinese people so if even a portion of them all bought the same book then...
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Mar 28, 2017 22:15:59 GMT
Probably Ms Rowling, although Mr King could get a boost with The Dark Tower and IT scoring film releases this year.
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Post by ulyssessarcher on Mar 29, 2017 7:09:23 GMT
Rolling in the same conversation as King makes me HEE HAW!!! King started with horror, moved on to drama, crime, intrigue and even sci-fi, what has Rolling's done? I cant name 1 book that doesn't include Harry Potter on the cover, she created a fantastic world, King created hundreds, or perhaps it's just 1, cause all things serve the tower. From the Stand, to John Coffee, Roland and his Ka-tet, a misguided desperate parent, to a lunatic fan(see a current thread), King has created more memorable characters than any other author, not just alive, but that has ever lived. The only author close wrote the Bible. A man and his car which turns into his tomb, a haunted car, a set of chatter teeth, a tennis player hangin on a ledge, 4 boys out to find a body, a wicked clown, and aliens in green. A man who catches glimpses of the future, vampires living in small towns and flying airplanes, a pyrokinetic, a rabid dog, an abused telekinetic, a man wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison, and I could go on and on and on. Now, in these paragraphs, how many of you know the stories to which I refer, I'll give you awhile, and let you know what they are, if you don't. These are just the adaptations King has, not an entire list of his books, just those that were made into movies, tv series, comic books, etc. and this is a very very very long list. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_adaptations_of_works_by_Stephen_KingAmong them are episodes of Tales from the darkside, X-Files, and The Twilight Zone. J.K. Rolling is a great author, I love her Harry Potter books, but she is a long way from being Stephen King, and for that matter, so is everyone else who has ever lived. |
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Post by omega on Mar 29, 2017 7:19:40 GMT
Shakespeare. Many, many narratives have used elements codified or best known from his plays, like Romeo and Juliet for romances (star-crossed lovers). The Lion King has often been described as Hamlet with lions, and then there's skulls forever being referred to as Yorrick. The fact his plays are still performed, explored, reimagined for new ages and reinterpreted shows that there's an appeal that transcends time and the setting they were originally written in.
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Post by muckypup on Mar 29, 2017 8:51:07 GMT
Stephen King for me, the guy has been writing consistent best sellers for 40years in all genres.
J k Rowling may have sold more but her non potter books only sell moderately well
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Mar 29, 2017 9:51:41 GMT
God.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2017 11:53:35 GMT
I'd go with JK Rowling if we are on about authors that are still alive.
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Mar 29, 2017 12:33:15 GMT
I'd definitely go with Stephen King as my number one
followed by J.K. Rowling
Then my surprise Third and Fourth entrants would be Peter F. Hamilton and Clive Cussler
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