September 9th, 2009 / 3:55 pm
Web Hype

15 Rich-Ass Authors I’ve Suddenly Decided To Like

I really enjoyed reading Blake Butler’s list of “15 Towering Literary Figures,” and Christopher Higgs’ list of “15 Significant Contemporary Women Writers.” Both were great, and I disagreed vehemently with those who criticized Blake for not putting more non-Americans on his list, because we all know that Americans are the only people who are any good at anything. Sorry, foreign losers! I also disagreed with whoever called Christopher a self-hating sellout to the gynocracy, whatever that means. Actually, I guess I said that. To myself. Just now.

Anyway, there was one glaring problem with both lists: Very few of the writers mentioned are super fucking rich. So I decided to make a list of 15 authors who I am going to pretend to like from now on, in the hopes they will send me money. I mean, Brian Evenson is a good writer, but is Brian Evenson going to keep you in expensive hookers and 40-year-old Laphroaig? No, Brian Evenson is not. So have fun drinking store-brand sodas with Jorie Graham and Diane Williams, guys! I’ll be in Ibiza, pronouncing “Ibiza” pretentiously, with my 15 new best friends:

Dan Brown

danbrown

John Grisham

johngrisham

Stephen King

stephenking

Jodi Picoult

jodipicoult

Joel Osteen

joelosteen

Dean Koontz

deankoontz

The Left Behind Dudes

leftbehind

Glenn Beck

glennbeck

Danielle Steel

DanielleSteel

The Twilight Lady

stepheniemeyer

I Guess That Madea Guy Probably Wrote A Book, Oh Here It Is

madea

Sue Grafton

suegrafton

The Executor Or Executrix Of Stieg Larsson’s Estate

stieglarsson

I Guess Margaret Atwood Probably Does All Right

atwood

Rachael Ray

rachaelray

Tags: ,

103 Comments

  1. Blake Butler

      this is why michael schaub gets paid the big giant commissions

  2. Blake Butler

      this is why michael schaub gets paid the big giant commissions

  3. Nathan Tyree

      you won my heart with Laphroaig. That’s my favorite Scotch

  4. Ken Baumann

      yesssssss

      the rachel ray made me laugh the hardest

      can someone please get Michael an award of some sort? now?

  5. Nathan Tyree

      you won my heart with Laphroaig. That’s my favorite Scotch

  6. Ken Baumann

      yesssssss

      the rachel ray made me laugh the hardest

      can someone please get Michael an award of some sort? now?

  7. MG

      Dammit I laughed so hard.

      The ‘Sue Grafton’ one just killed me.

  8. MG

      Dammit I laughed so hard.

      The ‘Sue Grafton’ one just killed me.

  9. rion

      That Madea guy is adapting For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf for film…..fucking hell on earth

  10. rion

      That Madea guy is adapting For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf for film…..fucking hell on earth

  11. sarah

      im glad you included the visuals so i wouldnt have to even read their names

  12. sarah

      im glad you included the visuals so i wouldnt have to even read their names

  13. Charles

      Yes, the Sue Grafton one is the best.

  14. Charles

      Yes, the Sue Grafton one is the best.

  15. Pete

      I didn’t realize the Left Behind dudes were so smoking hot. Certainly gives new meaning to the title of that series.

  16. Pete

      I didn’t realize the Left Behind dudes were so smoking hot. Certainly gives new meaning to the title of that series.

  17. Drew

      A+

  18. Drew

      A+

  19. Roxane

      Ugh. I’m actually giving a presentation on that guy next month wherein I detail how much I loathe him. I’m going to pretend I didn’t just read what you wrote because he shouldn’t be allowed to even say the name of that choreopoem.

  20. Roxane

      Ugh. I’m actually giving a presentation on that guy next month wherein I detail how much I loathe him. I’m going to pretend I didn’t just read what you wrote because he shouldn’t be allowed to even say the name of that choreopoem.

  21. Amber

      Oh my fucking funny. You should probably also try James Patterson–I read that he just signed a contract to shit out like, 47 more books before next Tuesday and they’ll cap all his teeth and toenails with gold or something. You should get in on some of that.

  22. Amber

      Oh my fucking funny. You should probably also try James Patterson–I read that he just signed a contract to shit out like, 47 more books before next Tuesday and they’ll cap all his teeth and toenails with gold or something. You should get in on some of that.

  23. rion
  24. rion
  25. rion

      unbeweavable

  26. rion

      unbeweavable

  27. Roxane

      You have made me profoundly sad.

  28. Roxane

      You have made me profoundly sad.

  29. Roxane

      When I read about that book deal today, I calculated that he will write a book a minute, give or take. They should make for fantastic reading.

  30. Roxane

      When I read about that book deal today, I calculated that he will write a book a minute, give or take. They should make for fantastic reading.

  31. Erin

      The best deal in that list is Joel Osteen, because he’s all about prosperity theology. If you like him? His God will make you a rich-ass author too!

  32. Erin

      The best deal in that list is Joel Osteen, because he’s all about prosperity theology. If you like him? His God will make you a rich-ass author too!

  33. david erlewine

      thirded

      great stuff

  34. david erlewine

      thirded

      great stuff

  35. Christopher Higgs

      High five, Michael Schaub. You put the candle on the cake. Dean Koontz as a baby with a comb over — priceless.

  36. Christopher Higgs

      High five, Michael Schaub. You put the candle on the cake. Dean Koontz as a baby with a comb over — priceless.

  37. david erlewine

      Tyler Perry makes me want to dress up in drag and act sassy and then talk subtext all fucking night long.

  38. david erlewine

      Tyler Perry makes me want to dress up in drag and act sassy and then talk subtext all fucking night long.

  39. reynard seifert

      “I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – Glenn Beck

  40. reynard seifert

      “I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – Glenn Beck

  41. lorian

      this just made my day so much better.

      fetish pony!

  42. lorian

      this just made my day so much better.

      fetish pony!

  43. Kyle Minor

      It is wrong to admit you admire things about certain mass market writers? I admire James Michener’s huge ambition, and his geological points of entry. I admire Tom Clancy’s long expository set pieces about interesting military technology. I admire the event mechanics of John Grisham’s potboilers. Ditto Stephen King.

      Dan Brown, Left Behind, Joel Osteen, Twilight — I can’t get behind any of that.

  44. Kyle Minor

      It is wrong to admit you admire things about certain mass market writers? I admire James Michener’s huge ambition, and his geological points of entry. I admire Tom Clancy’s long expository set pieces about interesting military technology. I admire the event mechanics of John Grisham’s potboilers. Ditto Stephen King.

      Dan Brown, Left Behind, Joel Osteen, Twilight — I can’t get behind any of that.

  45. Roxane

      I don’t mind mass market writers. I’ll joke but I read Clancy, John Sandford, Michener, Grisham and I must confess, my favorite Dan Brown whose new opus will be delivered to me while I sleep in 9/15 and I am so excited I can’t even talk about it without jumping up and down like a little girl. There are indeed things we can admire in the ways these prolific, hugely popular writers write. It is just as myopic and problematic, I think, to dismiss mass market fiction as it is to disdain of more challenging texts that are more often discussed here. Having said that, there’s no redemption for Tyler Perry.

  46. Roxane

      I don’t mind mass market writers. I’ll joke but I read Clancy, John Sandford, Michener, Grisham and I must confess, my favorite Dan Brown whose new opus will be delivered to me while I sleep in 9/15 and I am so excited I can’t even talk about it without jumping up and down like a little girl. There are indeed things we can admire in the ways these prolific, hugely popular writers write. It is just as myopic and problematic, I think, to dismiss mass market fiction as it is to disdain of more challenging texts that are more often discussed here. Having said that, there’s no redemption for Tyler Perry.

  47. davidpeak

      Graham Greene is probably my favorite author ever. And I really enjoyed Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River. Stephen King, in my mind, is not “just” a mass-market author. Have you read IT? The Dark Tower books? They’re mind-bending texts, pushing more boundaries than most self-consciously “innovative” lit.

  48. davidpeak

      Graham Greene is probably my favorite author ever. And I really enjoyed Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River. Stephen King, in my mind, is not “just” a mass-market author. Have you read IT? The Dark Tower books? They’re mind-bending texts, pushing more boundaries than most self-consciously “innovative” lit.

  49. Justin Taylor

      oh man, this just made my day. I’d like to add Tom Clancy to this list, along with that dude whose name I can’t remember who co-writes a lot his books–I thought it was Zack something, he wrote these great SECRETS OF NINTENDO books in the 80s and then somehow wound up as the T-man’s sidekick. Oh, also, Michael Chricton, even though he’s dead, because he became such a huge rightwing asshole, I can’t help but feel his assholery lives on. Oh and what about the secretive collective that calls itself RL STINE. If they bring the Columbia Gold and Cristal, I’ll bring the getting wasted and blowing them.

      LIVIN’ LARGE.

  50. Justin Taylor

      oh man, this just made my day. I’d like to add Tom Clancy to this list, along with that dude whose name I can’t remember who co-writes a lot his books–I thought it was Zack something, he wrote these great SECRETS OF NINTENDO books in the 80s and then somehow wound up as the T-man’s sidekick. Oh, also, Michael Chricton, even though he’s dead, because he became such a huge rightwing asshole, I can’t help but feel his assholery lives on. Oh and what about the secretive collective that calls itself RL STINE. If they bring the Columbia Gold and Cristal, I’ll bring the getting wasted and blowing them.

      LIVIN’ LARGE.

  51. Roxane

      I would totally add Clive Cussler to this esteemed list. When I was a teenager, I loved his books so much. Dirk Pitt seemed so hot. And he survived everything. And he had a bunch of old cars and lived in a hangar and was super super sexy and covert and he loves the ocean. But then Cussler had to write 11 books a year and Dirk Pitt got old and then he had two secret kids (twins, of course) that he knew nothing about and Al Giordano settled down and it was all very confusing so Cussler invented a new hero, a thinly veiled Dirk Pitt light named Kurt Austin and that guy and the ghost writer who writes him suck.

  52. Roxane

      I would totally add Clive Cussler to this esteemed list. When I was a teenager, I loved his books so much. Dirk Pitt seemed so hot. And he survived everything. And he had a bunch of old cars and lived in a hangar and was super super sexy and covert and he loves the ocean. But then Cussler had to write 11 books a year and Dirk Pitt got old and then he had two secret kids (twins, of course) that he knew nothing about and Al Giordano settled down and it was all very confusing so Cussler invented a new hero, a thinly veiled Dirk Pitt light named Kurt Austin and that guy and the ghost writer who writes him suck.

  53. Brandon

      You give Patterson too much credit. He gets others to shit out his books, then gives them a “&” and five percent of the jacket cover real estate.

  54. Brandon

      You give Patterson too much credit. He gets others to shit out his books, then gives them a “&” and five percent of the jacket cover real estate.

  55. lorian

      i used to masturbate to rl stine and christopher pike. pike was so smutty.

  56. lorian

      i used to masturbate to rl stine and christopher pike. pike was so smutty.

  57. Amber

      My favorite thing about Tom Clancy is that in some chapters, a character’s name will be O’Ryan, and then all of the sudden it’s O’Brien. His editor is AWESOME. But hey, they usually manage to keep within the right ethnic stereotype.

  58. Amber

      My favorite thing about Tom Clancy is that in some chapters, a character’s name will be O’Ryan, and then all of the sudden it’s O’Brien. His editor is AWESOME. But hey, they usually manage to keep within the right ethnic stereotype.

  59. Amber

      I always secretly dug Michener. I’ll admit it.

  60. Amber

      I always secretly dug Michener. I’ll admit it.

  61. Roxane

      And thank goodness for that.

  62. Roxane

      And thank goodness for that.

  63. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      Big props on Mystic River.

  64. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      Big props on Mystic River.

  65. Andy

      I’m new to the site and half way down I began to think this was a joke. Please tell me I’m right?

  66. Andy

      I’m new to the site and half way down I began to think this was a joke. Please tell me I’m right?

  67. mimi

      effin’ hee-larious! at first i thought the hot dudes were the pic for glenn beck !

  68. mimi

      effin’ hee-larious! at first i thought the hot dudes were the pic for glenn beck !

  69. Jason Cook

      Where’s Danielle Steele? I, for one, can’t do without that incest story line. It gets better every time.

  70. Jason Cook

      Where’s Danielle Steele? I, for one, can’t do without that incest story line. It gets better every time.

  71. Jason Cook

      Oh. Nevermind. Got caught up in the sexy Rachel Ray graphic.

  72. Jason Cook

      Oh. Nevermind. Got caught up in the sexy Rachel Ray graphic.

  73. Michael Schaub

      You have fine taste, my friend. Ever try Ardbeg? TRY ARDBEG

  74. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, Pike was some R-rated shit. And the stories were so bonkers. RL Stine was much more blah blah blah. Yeah, there were cheerleaders, but you were really doing most of the work. Even as a kid, I remember thinking “if one more bone is described as breaking with a ‘sickening crack’ I’m going to slap this assclown in his assy face.” I feel like in some ways, giving up Stine and becoming a Pike devotee was the true beginning of my identity as a literary critic. Except probably not really.

  75. Michael Schaub

      You have fine taste, my friend. Ever try Ardbeg? TRY ARDBEG

  76. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, Pike was some R-rated shit. And the stories were so bonkers. RL Stine was much more blah blah blah. Yeah, there were cheerleaders, but you were really doing most of the work. Even as a kid, I remember thinking “if one more bone is described as breaking with a ‘sickening crack’ I’m going to slap this assclown in his assy face.” I feel like in some ways, giving up Stine and becoming a Pike devotee was the true beginning of my identity as a literary critic. Except probably not really.

  77. Michael Schaub

      I’m with both of you on Pike. Now actually I want to read those again. You two are the second and third writers I like to mention Pike in the past few days. Maybe it’s a sign I should reread “Chain Letter.” Fuck it. I’m doing it.

  78. Michael Schaub

      I’m with both of you on Pike. Now actually I want to read those again. You two are the second and third writers I like to mention Pike in the past few days. Maybe it’s a sign I should reread “Chain Letter.” Fuck it. I’m doing it.

  79. Jonny Ross

      yes!

  80. Jonny Ross

      yes!

  81. joeseife

      Michael, you should check out Gideon. Guy must be loaded.

  82. joeseife

      Michael, you should check out Gideon. Guy must be loaded.

  83. david erlewine

      Years ago, I told my Grandmother I always wanted to be a writer. She was so excited, handing me a copy of “Chesapeake”. By the end of the trip, I told her I just hand’t gotten into it. We didn’t discuss my writing after that.

  84. david erlewine

      Years ago, I told my Grandmother I always wanted to be a writer. She was so excited, handing me a copy of “Chesapeake”. By the end of the trip, I told her I just hand’t gotten into it. We didn’t discuss my writing after that.

  85. david erlewine

      huge props. that book is great. i also liked his short story “Until Gwen”.

  86. david erlewine

      huge props. that book is great. i also liked his short story “Until Gwen”.

  87. Joseph

      I bet Jorie Graham has hordes of filthy cash.

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  89. Joseph

      I bet Jorie Graham has hordes of filthy cash.

  90. Joseph

      and where’s the J.K. Rowling love? She could buy and sell each one of these fuckers.

  91. Joseph

      and where’s the J.K. Rowling love? She could buy and sell each one of these fuckers.

  92. andy.riverbed

      this was awesome.

  93. andy.riverbed

      this was awesome.

  94. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      tayari jones has been monitoring this…. it sounds like he might just be financing/producing, hopefully he won’t mess with shit creatively?

  95. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      tayari jones has been monitoring this…. it sounds like he might just be financing/producing, hopefully he won’t mess with shit creatively?

  96. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      i actually kind of like that about him.

  97. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      i actually kind of like that about him.

  98. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      oh god, like that trilogy …the party, the prom, graduation, or something like that?? that was his, right? where the female protag is checking out the football guy’s ass in this totally cruisy gay male-ish way?

  99. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      oh god, like that trilogy …the party, the prom, graduation, or something like that?? that was his, right? where the female protag is checking out the football guy’s ass in this totally cruisy gay male-ish way?

  100. lorian

      pike WAS bonkers. the last vampire series was probably my first foray into bdsm.

  101. lorian

      pike WAS bonkers. the last vampire series was probably my first foray into bdsm.

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