James Patterson is an illustrious American writer whose skate has become intricate detective novels and intriguing thrillers. In the period from 2010 to 2013, he became the most popular and profitable author of the detective genre.
Education and career start
Time and place of birth - March 22, 1947, USA. Author Patterson James graduated from Vanderbill University and holds a master's degree in English. He began his career in an advertising agency, where he quickly achieved success - he became the chairman of this company. Until 1996, he combined writing and a high position in the advertising business. Then he left his job in advertising, he devoted himself entirely to literature.
Becoming James B. Patterson as a writer
The path to recognition of literary talent for James Patterson was thorny. His first novel, The Thomas Barryman Number, was refused to be published in 20 publishing houses. Only in 1976 the book was published and instantly became a bestseller. For this work, Patterson was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for the most successful debut novel. An interesting fact is that the writer James Patterson thought up the advertising campaign and the cover of the book personally and invested his own money in its promotion. The investments fully paid off, and the book came out in a huge circulation.
Patterson's popularity as an author soared literally to heaven thanks to novels about detectives Alex Cross and Michael Bennet, as well as several works of the series “Women's Club of Investigation of Murders”. In addition, other works of Patterson were published. Among them are “Red Roses”, “Cat and Mouse”, “Jack and Jill” and others.
The series with the main character, Alex Cross, began with the book “The Spider Appeared,” published in 1993. Detective stories about an American policeman with a doctorate in psychology and a government consultant are the most sold out in the United States. According to Patterson’s books, 2 films were shot - “And the Spider Came” and “Kiss the Girls”. Alexa Cross was played in them by the famous actor Morgan Freeman. The box office of these films is incredibly high.
Co-authorship
In order to bring something special and exciting to his creations, James Patterson works with his fellow writers, such as Maxine Paetro and Andrew Gross. Together with them he published 11 books. Among them is “The Jester” (a historical thriller with medieval Europe in the spotlight), several books from the series “Women’s Murder Investigation Club”. It is noteworthy that on the covers of books the name of Patterson himself is written in capital letters, and his co-author - in small letters. Despite a lot of criticism, the writer continues to collaborate with a huge number of authors, and their number is growing every year.
Critics of such co-authorship say different things. Some condemn both Patterson and his colleagues, claiming that their works individually represent the best works. Others, on the contrary, believe that such cooperation is beneficial not only to little-known writers, whom nobody especially knew before working with Patterson, but also to the most legendary detective. This is expressed in new views on the literary approach, and in a slightly modified style of works. By co-authoring the book, James Patterson seeks and gains new experience. Despite the various points of view of critics, such works are invariably popular and love among readers and fans of the detective genre.
Merits and awards in the literary environment
Patterson has been writing for over 33 years, during which he successfully released more than 65 works. In addition, he is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the author of the largest number of bestsellers. In addition to being rewarded for his first novel, he also received awards in the International Thriller of the Year category.
Other employment by James B. Patterson
In addition to the literary craft, the popular writer James Patterson is actively involved in the film adaptation of his own novels, acting as a producer. The required percentage of films is a significant part of his annual earnings. In 2005, he established his own reward for discovering interesting techniques to increase his interest in reading. In 2008, the award ceased to exist. At the moment, Patterson is busy with a fresh plan - the ReadKiddoRead.com project, whose goal is to help find the most suitable and worthwhile books for children.
To date , the writer lives in the US state of Florida with his family and continues his extensive creative work. Fans of this famous writer, not only in the United States, but also in other countries, including ours, are looking forward to new creations, which Patterson James will introduce to the world in the near future. The library of any lover of a detective novel contains books by this writer.