# One author, two books. One you love, one you hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129 "2005-10-27T05:37:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/61 "2005-10-28T19:14:02Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I nominate: > **Ken Follett** > He’s written some fantastic thrillers ( **The Eye of the Needle** ) and interesting and compelling historical epics ( **The Pillars of the Earth** ), and also some of the worst books I’ve ever read ( **Jackdaws** and **The Third Twin** ). Yes! I bought everything Follett wrote up until The Third Twin, and I haven’t read a word of his since. Total crapola, that was. One of my favorite books of all time is **Heart of the Country** by Greg Matthews, but I haven’t been able to get more than a few pages into anything else he’s written. The only prolific writer who hasn’t disappointed me is **David L. Martin** , and he’s written literary-type stuff as well as thrillers. It’s all different, and all good. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/62 "2005-10-28T19:18:05Z")
Tim Powers. Book I loved: _The Drawing of the Dark._ Book I hated: Every other single word he set to print. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/63 "2005-10-28T21:19:56Z")
Isabel Allende. **Of Love and Shadows** moved me and addressed issues I’d never seen addressed in fiction before. Loved it. So much I plan to read it again, only in Spanish. **The Infinite Plan**? Yes, Isabel, we GET. IT. You live in America now, proven by paragraph upon paragraph which only purpose seems to be demonstrating that you can “develop” American characters. Trying too too hard. Distracting. Frustrating. Never made it through the book. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/64 "2005-10-28T21:50:37Z")
**Brett Easton Ellis** _American Psycho_: Genius. Everything else he’s ever written, not so much, but _The Informers_ and _Glamorama_ sucked especially hard. **Chuck Palahniuk** _Fight Club_: Brilliant. _Choke_: ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/65 "2005-10-29T00:36:51Z")
John Crowley. I passionately love “Little, Big” and have read it about once a year for the past 15, but have never managed to get more than a few dozen pages into anything else he’s written. Also, I eagerly await just about everything Barbara Mertz writes as Elizabeth Peters, particularly her Amelia Peabody books, but cannot manage a single book she’s written as Barbara Michaels - they just bore me to death. And Tim Powers - love “The Drawing of the Dark” and “On Stranger Tides”, can’t abide any of his others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129.md?page=3)