Patterson’s approach to writing is unapologetically pragmatic: Give 'em something irresistibly compelling, then give 'em more of it, quickly...It’s also the MO of his memoir, filled with snappy, short chapters and a lot of name-dropping, from Dolly Parton to Tom Cruise to James Taylor...His writing process is pragmatic, too...Patterson is a man of the people, as his sales figures decisively prove. But in his memoir, he also positions himself as a man of taste...Patterson is tastefully understated about his efforts...But celebrating Patterson for everything he’s done for literature feels a lot like celebrating the microwave for everything it’s done for food...So, the pleasures of Patterson’s story are the moments when a bit of quirkiness and candor creeps in...He punctuates that last story with an odd statement: 'Look at all the stories I’ve made up in this book'...After hedging on so many particular stories in his memoir, he then hedges on the whole of it.
The best-selling author does serve up stories, lots of them; the book is a grab bag of anecdotes, many of which have the tone and the import of a humorous icebreaker in a Rotary Club speech ... Patterson has almost as many names to drop as he does stories to tell, although the celebrity encounters tend to be less amusing than his boyhood escapades ... As frustrating as James Patterson can be to read if you’d like to know more about how Patterson came to create his publishing empire, the book does generate some sympathy for its author. Patterson is keenly aware of the disdain heaped on his work, and he seems to feel every slight ... It isn’t easy to defend yourself without coming across as defensive. Patterson is rich and famous, and things would be easier for him if he didn’t care what King or some literary critic says about him, but he clearly does, despite his efforts to hide it. Perhaps this is why James Patterson contains so little about its author’s writing processes and strategies ... Anyone curious to know how Patterson came to create his most celebrated character, what interested him in writing about the experience of Black Americans, and how he researched that experience will find no answers in James Patterson. (Anyone who wants to read about Patterson’s golf game, if such a person exists, will be well served.) Patterson describes the 'thick folder of ideas' he keeps in his office, but not where he finds the materials in it ... implies that its author is so overflowing with story ideas the only way he could find peace was to outsource them to collaborators—but why not just winnow that folder down to the very best of the bunch? ... the stories—a cavalcade of mostly trivial tales, often told out of chronological order and sometimes having little to do with the author—come across as a screen he hides behind ... this is perhaps the most forlorn aspect of James Patterson: that a man so relentlessly bullish on storytelling seems never to have formulated the story of his own life.
Publishing juggernaut Patterson offers an upbeat, lighthearted view of his happy and productive life...He fashions sprightly anecdotes of his work among the mad men of the advertising world...At the same time, he was writing at least two bestselling novels per year...In 1996, he quit to write full time...Patterson’s prolific output includes several mystery series, children’s books, romance novels, and nonfiction, sometimes co-authored: Dolly Parton ('down-to-earth, genuine, thoughtful, smart as a whip, funny, and self-deprecating') and Bill Clinton are among his collaborators...A list of beloved titles appends the memoir...A brisk, entertaining read.
The dozens of sections skim the major stages of Patterson’s life, including his childhood in Newburgh, N.Y., his early love of reading, his aspirations to become a writer, his time in the advertising industry and his astonishing commercial success as a novelist...As Patterson makes crystal clear, readers in search of a straightforward and detailed autobiography won’t find it here...Occasionally, Patterson’s jocular style feels at odds with his material, as when he glibly weighs in on the U.S.’s systemic problems: 'It isn’t white, Black, or brown... it’s jerks'...Still, this uncut look into the famed author’s mind is sure to intrigue his many fans—and critics.
