Interview

Talking With
James Patterson

James Patterson populates his books with terrorists, serial killers, and ruthless criminal masterminds. In contrast to the grisly content of his bestselling novels, Patterson turned out to be a pleasant, easygoing man when AudioFile caught up with him during his four-month, thirty-city tour. “I’m addicted to audiobooks, and every time I get in the car now, that’s all I do. I’m a huge, huge fan,” said Patterson, whose novels top the audiobook sales charts. “It’s a really exciting form. In particular for people who spend a lot of time driving or jogging, it’s the best. I converted about three years ago.” Up until that point, Patterson had led the hectic life of a city dweller. “I had no time. I didn’t want to think about audiobooks. Then I moved to the country. I spend a lot more time in the car. Now every time I get in the car, in goes the audiobook, even if it’s a ten-minute trip.”

We asked him about his choices for listening. “All the books that I used to buy, and I wind up not reading,” he answered. “For years I had David McCullough’s TRUMAN, and every time I reached for it, I’d ask myself, a thousand pages? Do I really want to know that much about Truman? I do more nonfiction on the audios than fiction. I’ll listen to
anything—from TITAN, Ron Chernow’s BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, to a Tom Clancy novel. I might pick a book I’m curious about, but I might not read the whole thing. I might be curious, but not necessarily 7-8 hours worth of reading curious.”

Does Patterson listen to his own books? “I already know the stories pretty well,” he told us. “But I do find sometimes that listening to them shows me places I could have done a little better.” Before his nationwide tour to promote ROSES ARE RED, Patterson received an audiobook copy of that book. “I thought it was a good idea to get familiar with the story again. Sometimes people ask me questions, and I don’t remember at that point. It had been a year and a half since I had finished the book.”

Does the author approve of abridgments? “I love them. Just about everything I ‘read’ is abridged. I think they’re great. For me, unabridged is a little too much. They do a nice job of condensing the story. Yet four to six hours is still a lot. Imagine sitting through a four-to six-hour movie.” Two of Patterson’s thrillers—KISS THE GIRLS and ALONG CAME A SPIDER, both featuring detective Alex Cross—have been adapted as movies starring Morgan Freeman. Other adaptations have included the made-for-TV movies “Child of darkness, Child of Light” (based on CRALE AND ALL) and “Miracle on the 17th Green” with Robert Urich and Meredith Baxter. We asked Patterson to compare his experiences with audiobook and film studios. “It’s very different. With audiobooks, they really try their best to be faithful. And they certainly are in close contact with you. They give you the script before they record it. You can have as much input as you want, the only limitation being the length. Whereas with Hollywood, there’s little or no [author] input, and they’re going to change it a lot. They don’t often have a lot of respect for the original material.”

One of the unique traits of Patterson’s writing is his use of multiple viewpoints. Most of his 16 novels feature a pair of lead characters—often a man and a woman—working separately but in tandem to solve the plot, allowing the reader to see the story unfold from both perspectives. In KISS THE GIRLS he went so far as to have twin villains, mirroring each other’s crime from opposite ends of the country. Audiobook producers have taken advantage of this by casting multiple readers in their productions. Robert Guillaume and Chris Noth read KISS THE GIRLS. Blair Underwood and John Rubinstein performed JACK AND JILL. Six of the twelve audiobooks currently offered by Time Warner Audio include multiple narrators.

What’s on the horizon for Patterson’s fans? He’s just completed 1ST TO DIE, introducing four female protagonists: a district attorney, a journalist, a medical examiner, and a homicide detective. “They meet while they’re involved in a huge case in San Francisco, and they go out for a drink and decide to start sharing information and trying to solve the case themselves.” Not only did Patterson have to tackle the challenge of establishing and maintaining four heroines, but he also took on the additional challenge of a man writing in a female perspective. “I think I’ve succeeded. The feedback on this series has been great.” Curious listeners can get a sneak peek at 1ST TO DIE with the preview tacked on to the end of CD and cassette versions of the abridged ROSES ARE RED audiobook.—Steven Steinbock

APR/MAY 01
© AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Photo © Susan Solie Patterson