Terry Deary the idiot

I try not get angry; it doesn't do much good and it's a pretty negative emotion. However there are times when it's actually worth it. I heard the interview on Radio 5 Live that Deary gave to Richard Bacon and I've read the Telegraph article now. My first feeling, and I still think that it's the correct one, is that the guy is desperate for publicity for his new book. That's certainly why he was on the radio programme, and it's a fairly cheap and transparent approach; say something controversial that will get hackles to rise and flog a cheap book on the back of it. So I know that I'm doing exactly what the sad little man wants, but this time - I really don't care.

The statements that he's made simply don't stack up - he can't even manage internal consistency with his nonsense. He wants to give 'poor people' and the 'impoverished' (how's that for patronising?) Kindles. That provides access to books, but it doesn't actually give them books. They would still have to *buy* the books, and of course, if it's a Kindle that they've been given - where do they go? Why... to Amazon of course. Where Deary sells his books. I love the fact that Deary is selling his books on Amazon, while at the same time decrying the closure of bookshops. Here's a clue Mr Deary - if you want to try and keep bookshops open don't allow you books to be sold on Amazon - make people go to a bookshop to buy them. But of course, that would mean you make less money wouldn't it, and we couldn't have that!

This entirely ignores that fact that he's too thick to actually work out what libraries are *for*. His idea of what a library is - a glorified bookshop that gives his work away for free - is so outdated that it would be laughable if he wasn't so pathetic. How does a Kindle help a child with its literacy? How does it help someone research a job? How does it help someone get legal advice? How does it help a community? Of course it does none of those things - it just helps Deary make money, and that's really all that he is concerned with.

Deary is a sad man, desperate for publicity - any publicity - in order to sell his books. When I think about other authors - Alan Gibbons, Neil Gaiman, Terry Prachett - all of whom support libraries he is not worthy to be considered in the same category.

Comments

[Shona mctavish]

However, to quote 'I try not get angry' in the first sentence of any article is enough to put one off reading the rest!

[Sue Austen]

Thank you so much for posting this - it's exactly what I felt after hearing this silly man on the radio!