07-27-2010, 03:03 AM
Not sure about the Americans in the field, but I can think of a Canadian author of Gothics whom I'd consider overrated: W. E. D. Ross, a.k.a. Laura Frances Brooks, Lydia Colby, Rose Dana, Jan Daniels, Ross Olin, Diane Randall, Clarissa Ross, Dan Ross, Dana Ross, Marilyn Ross . . .
I'm not usually prone to invective, and I respect the toil and sweat of any writer who has managed to make a career of his craft, but . . . I really have to wonder how some of this man's books made it into print. I have tried to read several, and set each aside in disgust. The style and plotting were barely above the level of Scooby-Doo.
Am I alone in this opinion? Am I mistaken? Perhaps he merely wrote a few duds and I chose unluckily. The man was so prolific he must have had diarrhea of the pen. There is a vomitous quality to the prose, as if he just yakked it out onto the page and let it dry there. Still -- If anyone can recommend a Ross book they really like, I'll give him one last chance.
I'm not usually prone to invective, and I respect the toil and sweat of any writer who has managed to make a career of his craft, but . . . I really have to wonder how some of this man's books made it into print. I have tried to read several, and set each aside in disgust. The style and plotting were barely above the level of Scooby-Doo.
Am I alone in this opinion? Am I mistaken? Perhaps he merely wrote a few duds and I chose unluckily. The man was so prolific he must have had diarrhea of the pen. There is a vomitous quality to the prose, as if he just yakked it out onto the page and let it dry there. Still -- If anyone can recommend a Ross book they really like, I'll give him one last chance.
