# Spider Robinson's reluctant author **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977 "2013-07-19T20:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/21 "2013-07-21T18:41:07Z")
Oh that Spider Robinson ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/22 "2013-07-21T18:54:01Z")
My guess is Piers Anthony ad his Xanth series. I don’t recall him saying it outright but I never had the impression he much liked the series but fans kept demanding more and it is now up to 39 books according to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/23 "2013-07-21T18:59:02Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > My guess is Piers Anthony ad his Xanth series. I don’t recall him saying it outright but I never had the impression he much liked the series but fans kept demanding more and it is now up to 39 books according to Wikipedia. It wasn’t up to anything like “more than 20” by the time of Spider’s comment. The answer has been given in this thread, and the careful reader will spot it. I can’t say anything further. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/24 "2013-07-21T20:48:19Z")
How about Moorcock? ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/25 "2013-07-21T20:55:59Z")
My guess reading the OP was also Baum, which jibes with what I’ve heard of the many Oz sequels ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/26 "2013-07-21T21:02:38Z")
It doesn’t fit L. Frank Baum at all. It doesn’t fit Michael Moorcock at all. Really, nothing suggested in this thread or either of the two other threads mentioned above fits the story. I’m very dubious about the story. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/27 "2013-07-21T21:44:56Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Really, nothing suggested in this thread or either of the two other threads mentioned above fits the story. I’m very dubious about the story. I’m even more dubious about the thread. Ludicrous guesses? Check. Insults to authors? Check. People not understanding when 1977 was? :smack: > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The answer has been given in this thread, and the careful reader will spot it. I can’t say anything further. If you have an answer, then say it and we can take it apart or confirm it. Why the hinting? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/28 "2013-07-21T21:58:40Z")
Folks. Please. The answer \*is \*in this thread, in pieces. I assure you of it. The confusion is because you are misreading the question, and on several key points. Allow me to quote, in full: > [@](#): > > One of my favorite anecdotes concerns a writer who bet a friend that it was literally impossible to write a book so B_A_D that no one could be found to publish it. As the story goes, this writer proceeded to write the worst, most hackneyed novel of which he was capable - and not only did he succeed in selling it, \*the public demanded better than two dozen sequels \*(I \*can’t \*tell you his name: his estate might sue me, and I have no documentation.[)] Now then. As this quote dates from \*\*1977 \*\*and refers to a \*\*male \*\*author who wrote some \*\*25 books \*\*in a single vein and is at that time **dead** , with a protective **estate** overseeing things… postulating that it might be authors who had barely started their careers, had that-far only a handful of books, and were still living is missing the point on a grand scale. This quote also **lacks a bipartite word** of context that is being assumed by all guessers. It’s pretty much not there for a reason (not that it’s 100% off the beam, either). I assure you that the quote is **100% accurate**. The reason for all the coyness about an absolute answer is in word number five and the last two; I believe the estate in question would still not be one to tangle with, if only on a literary reputation level. Thus the answer itself is not secret per se, but there can be no quotable, authorized statement of it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/29 "2013-07-21T22:04:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Folks. Please. The answer \*is \*in this thread, in pieces. I assure you of it. > > The confusion is because you are misreading the question, and on several key points. Allow me to quote, in full: > > Now then. As this quote dates from \*\*1977 \*\*and refers to a \*\*male \*\*author who wrote some \*\*25 books \*\*in a single vein and is at that time **dead** , with a protective **estate** overseeing things… postulating that it might be authors who had barely started their careers, had that-far only a handful of books, and were still living is missing the point on a grand scale. > > This quote also **lacks a bipartite word** of context that is being assumed by all guessers. It’s pretty much not there for a reason (not that it’s 100% off the beam, either). > > I assure you that the quote is **100% accurate**. The reason for all the coyness about an absolute answer is in word number five and the last two; I believe the estate in question would still not be one to tangle with, if only on a literary reputation level. Thus the answer itself is not secret per se, but there can be no quotable, authorized statement of it. Stop being so damned coy. If you have an answer, out with it. I always hate when someone tantalizes you with the claim that they have an answer, which then often turns out to be provably wrong, or only convincing to the person themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/30 "2013-07-21T22:09:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Stop being so damned coy. If you have an answer, out with it. I always hate when someone tantalizes you with the claim that they have an answer, which then often turns out to be provably wrong, or only convincing to the person themselves. Dear God, don’t challenge him! This mysterious, litigious estate might sue based on a third-hand, unverifiable confirmation posted by someone with a made-up moniker! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/31 "2013-07-21T22:10:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Stop being so damned coy. If you have an answer, out with it. I always hate when someone tantalizes you with the claim that they have an answer, which then often turns out to be provably wrong, or only convincing to the person themselves. I was told the answer by the author himself when I asked him last night, who asked me not to quote him because of a credible worry the estate might hassle him. I could have said nothing here and let you bat around Piers Anthony and Michael Moorcock, or I can steer you to the answer staring you all in the face without breaking my confidence. Fine, i was a little too elliptical on this: the bipartite word is “science fiction.” I’ll spell it out: don’t assume it’s one of the normal fraternity. The author is often included with sf writers but the works in question would take quite a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/32 "2013-07-21T22:15:50Z")
I think it’s you that’s missing the point here. 🙂 So many novels have pretty much the same plot, just tarted up differently. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/33 "2013-07-21T22:17:53Z")
The Tarzan series? 24 novels published by 1977. Author died [in 1950](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs#Tarzan_series). Burroghs was one of the first to form a [corporation to](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs,_Inc.)control his copyrights. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/34 "2013-07-21T22:18:46Z")
**lisiate** , is your middle name Jane, perhaps? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/35 "2013-07-21T22:19:38Z")
Oh and how can Edgar Rice Burrows Inc hassle anyone for expressing an opinion about the Tarzan books? Nope Lisiate is my middle name… ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/36 "2013-07-21T22:25:43Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Oh and how can Edgar Rice Burrows Inc hassle anyone for expressing an opinion about the Tarzan books? It’s not _my_ concern. Debating the validity of the story is easier when you’re not trying to find Michael Moorcock’s phone number to settle it, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/37 "2013-07-21T22:29:56Z")
Amateur Barbarian, I don’t think you know anything about this at all. I think you’re acting coy because you’ve got nothing. There’s no way that any estate could actually sue about this. Until you just give us the name of this author, there’s no point in any further discussion with you. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/38 "2013-07-21T22:40:26Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Amateur Barbarian, I don’t think you know anything about this at all. I think you’re acting coy because you’ve got nothing. There’s no way that any estate could actually sue about this. Until you just give us the name of this author, there’s no point in any further discussion with you. “…but you can’t tell 'em much.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/39 "2013-07-21T23:01:30Z")
**Amateur Barbarian** doesn’t know the answer, and is, as another poster said, being coy. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977/40 "2013-07-21T23:05:54Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > “…but you can’t tell 'em much.” **Mod Note:** Being coy and playing games doesn’t give you a free pass to insult other posters. If you need to hash it out with another poster, take it to the Pit. Persist in other forums and you’ll start receiving Warnings instead of notes. - Gukumatz, Cafe Society Moderator. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-robinsons-reluctant-author/663977.md?page=3)