# Terry Deary is an idiot



## moderan (Feb 15, 2013)

Here's the evidence (from The Huffington Post  and The Guardian):





> Most authors support public libraries - but not Terry Deary, author of the children's series Horrible Histories. He told The Guardian that "the concept behind libraries... is no longer relevant."
> 
> He went on to say,
> 
> ...


What say you?


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## Lewdog (Feb 15, 2013)

I read an article recently where the first library with absolutely no books was opened.  Pretty sad isn't it?  I bet if you ask most teenagers what the Dewey Decimal System is, they will tell you it has something to do with Scrooge McDuck and his Nephews.  Then again, that show is probably too old for them too.


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## moderan (Feb 15, 2013)

It is sad. I have more books here at home than in the main branch of the Tucson public library. They mostly rent videos and games. Brain-rot stuff.


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## Foxee (Feb 15, 2013)

I still love libraries and appreciate them for storing tons of stuff that I want to read but don't have room for in my house. Libraries are a place where the next generation of readers can afford to read as much as they like, which reinforces the habit. I really don't agree with Wossname Deary at all though I suppose I can see why he's cranky if borrowing is putting the bite on his bottom line. Thing is, I've borrowed books from the library to see if I like the author and sometimes have gone on to buy their books.


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## Ariel (Feb 15, 2013)

I would not be the reader I am if it weren't for libraries.  As a kid my family didn't have a lot of money and the library was where I picked up books to read.  As an adult I can afford to buy books and I do, often, but there's nothing like the sweet hush of a library and the smell of all those books to calm me down.


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## Lewdog (Feb 15, 2013)

Nowadays you can find books extremely cheap at flea markets, garage sales, online, and at Half-Priced Book stores.


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## moderan (Feb 15, 2013)

Foxee said:


> I've borrowed books from the library to see if I like the author and sometimes have gone on to buy their books.


Precisely. I've done this since I was very small.



amsawtell said:


> I would not be the reader I am if it weren't for libraries.  As a kid my family didn't have a lot of money and the library was where I picked up books to read.  As an adult I can afford to buy books and I do, often, but there's nothing like the sweet hush of a library and the smell of all those books to calm me down.


Most libraries. The ones here have homeless person smell. They're very clean but we have a great mass of unwashed.



Lewdog said:


> Nowadays you can find books extremely cheap at flea markets, garage sales, online, and at Half-Priced Book stores.



If I'm to support the author, I'll buy full price. If they've passed, I have no desire to support their relatives. I buy vintage stuff at resale shops. If the author is a conspicuously wealthy person, I don't have any compunction about buying secondhand. You really only need so much money. I follow the same logic with musical purchases.


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## shadowwalker (Feb 16, 2013)

I definitely think small town libraries are flourishing - at least as much as possible due to the way they're funded. Ours is small but has many, many more books than DVDs. They also have several computers for people to use. When you live in a farming community and the nearest theater is 30 miles away - heck, when most entertainment is 30 miles away - the library is a necessity.

Personally, I prefer to check out new books and authors at the library first, and then buy if I like them. And then I recommend them to my friends, who buy them. Heck of a lot better than trying to see if you like a book by using that "peek in" thingy online.


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## Trilby (Feb 16, 2013)

I like the libraries for the out of print books on niche subjects - some books would be lost if it wasn't for the libraries keeping them for reference.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

shadowwalker said:


> I definitely think small town libraries are flourishing - at least as much as possible due to the way they're funded. Ours is small but has many, many more books than DVDs. They also have several computers for people to use. When you live in a farming community and the nearest theater is 30 miles away - heck, when most entertainment is 30 miles away - the library is a necessity.
> 
> Personally, I prefer to check out new books and authors at the library first, and then buy if I like them. And then I recommend them to my friends, who buy them. Heck of a lot better than trying to see if you like a book by using that "peek in" thingy online.





Trilby said:


> I like the libraries for the out of print books on niche subjects - some books would be lost if it wasn't for the libraries keeping them for reference.



Absolutely (to both). That's why I think Terry Deary is an idito. He ignores all of that and focuses on the profit motive. Not everything is about the long green right now. Information is profitable in so many other ways, and you need to take a MUCH longer view


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## AshenhartKrie (Feb 16, 2013)

A lot of people these days only care about profit. 
They've turned something wonderful into nothing more than a job. 
Writing is not a job, and nor is it about making money. To me it is about bringing joy to those who read the stories you craft, because bringing joy is one of the most amazing rewards. 
Libraries are a haven. I know people who can't get a moment of silence at home, and resort to the library just to get some peace and quiet. The library in my town is packed to the rafters with books of ever genre imaginable. In fact, there is only a measly little metal shelf of DVD's, and most are dreadfully old and boring. They even stock magazines and have free wi-fi. It's ver much community orientated, and for me it's practically a home away from home. I have to have a 5 book limit becuase if I don't I'll come home with 25 and read them all twice. 

The moment you start caring about the money you get from your books is the moment writing stops being fun and becomes work.


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## CoinOperatedSpork (Feb 16, 2013)

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here. I think Terry has a valid point. If someone is not getting paid adequately for the work that they are doing it gets kind of frustrating. When I was in high school I would do freelance computer work and there were times where I would put in a ton of work only to get snubbed on the paycheck. It's like having your day job and being forced to work at a ninety percent pay cut a portion of the time. Authors have family and bills. My two cents. I used to go to the library and lot when I was a kid but I find myself forking over the money to buy the books I like now. I could go to the library and possibly find those books for free but where is the fun in that. I don't own it.


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## Ariel (Feb 16, 2013)

Fella pointed out something too, who's to say that without libraries this Deary would get the audience he has?  His estimate of what he could be making is high--not everyone wants to own books or necessarily even his books.  He's being presumptuous and egotistical.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

CoinOperatedSpork said:


> I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here. I think Terry has a valid point. If someone is not getting paid adequately for the work that they are doing it gets kind of frustrating. When I was in high school I would do freelance computer work and there were times where I would put in a ton of work only to get snubbed on the paycheck. It's like having your day job and being forced to work at a ninety percent pay cut a portion of the time. Authors have family and bills. My two cents. I used to go to the library and lot when I was a kid but I find myself forking over the money to buy the books I like now. I could go to the library and possibly find those books for free but where is the fun in that. I don't own it.


I think he has a point, under his hat. Profit motive aside, people don't get into the habit of regular reading without the free pleasures afforded by a well-equipped library. The bulk of the reading public started out reading books for free and then going out and getting them.



amsawtell said:


> Fella pointed out something too, who's to say that without libraries this Deary would get the audience he has?  His estimate of what he could be making is high--not everyone wants to own books or necessarily even his books.  He's being presumptuous and egotistical.


I've read a couple of his things. Can't say I would recommend them. And I agree.


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## JosephB (Feb 16, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> Fella pointed out something too, who's to say that without libraries this Deary would get the audience he has?



That's what crossed my mind first. Not too different than how sharing music among friends (I'm against illegal downloading) creates new fans and leads to more sales.

Otherwise -- we used to go to the library when the kids were younger. Not so much any more. We order most of our books online from the county-wide library system and just go to the library to pick them up. Now I'm downloading ebooks from the library -- the selection isn't very good at this point, but I expect that to change, so even less reason to go. Seems like that will hasten the demise of the physical library -- but it sure is convenient.


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## Lewdog (Feb 16, 2013)

The libraries pay for their books don't they?  I'd be more than happy if I wrote a book and each of the libraries in the world bought a copy.


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## Circadian (Feb 16, 2013)

There are some of my all-time favorite books I never would have discovered if it hadn't been for the library.  I never would have spent all that money buying them from Hastings if I hadn't checked them out first.


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## Freakconformist (Feb 16, 2013)

Right, I'm one of those people who reads a book once (maaaybe twice), I'm no interested in owning a book for posterity, and I really don't have the room, why should I buy a book? It'll turn into one of these situations where everybody has the same book, and you can't give it away. Landfills would be full of books. I ran into this problem with comic books.

I mean, really, who does this guy think he is? If I had kids I would tell them to stop reading his books because I don't want them to be influenced by a materialistic jerk wad. It sounds like he somehow got the impression that, now that he has had some success, he should be living a life of ease. I know some media show authors living in the lap of luxury, but I'm pretty sure that's just the screen writer's wet dream. I like the logic, "if I was selling these at market I would be making 3x the amount." No, he wouldn't. First, nobody would know who he was. Second, most children when offered the choice between a toy and a book? Anything but a book. Third, parents are hardly going to go out and buy every book from a cut rate children's author. I haven't read any of his work, but I'm thinking he's no J.K. Rowling.

Ugh, I don't have the time to form a proper rant. To be continued...


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## CoinOperatedSpork (Feb 16, 2013)

Libraries aren't the only avenue for marketing your book. There is traditional advertising and more importantly there is word of mouth. People who like books talk about the books they like. That's how I learned about new authors. I ask people what they are reading and go check it out. Now I can go to the library or I can go to a book store. Some people enjoy the library because they don't want to pay for books. I enjoy owning books. I guess the question here is would the people who went to the library buy books if they weren't available for free? There are a ton of studies about the effects of pirating in the entertainment industry. 

I'm not against libraries.  I just felt the need to argue the other side. Lol I discovered my love of reading at the library. Then I out grew the library and I own a small collection myself. When I don't have room in donate my books to the special education depart at my old high school where my parents work.


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## dale (Feb 16, 2013)

he's a dupe, imo. i'd personally be ecstatic to see a book i wrote in public libraries. seems like if you're doing well enough
that your books are in libraries, you should have no real reason to whine about it anyway.


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## shadowwalker (Feb 16, 2013)

It's not like he's not getting paid _at all_. He gets money from the libraries (which I don't believe happens in the US), the libraries have to buy the books, and he's still got the 'regular' route - bookstores. He's speaking from greed, nothing more.


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## Kevin (Feb 16, 2013)

I can't help but see some comparisons to 'file sharing'.


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## Lewdog (Feb 16, 2013)

Kevin said:


> I can't help but see some comparisons to 'file sharing'.



I used 'file sharing' as a pick up line once.  It didn't work.  She said she didn't like giving away her work for free, and she didn't want my viruses.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

The standard book contract used to have language stipulating how much you get for library sales, book club sales, etc (I haven't seen one in ten years or so). It's less than you'd think. But the word of mouth generated by each are more than worth the drop in cash payout.
And CoinOperatedSpork-great username. I dunno about the others, I understood what you meant when you said you were playing devil's advocate. I maintain the stance made explicit in the OP's title-Terry Deary is an idiot. He's trying to attract attention to his work by making controversial statements. But he's made it into something else. Few people are talking about his books. Instead, they're talking about what a major dimbulb he is.


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## CoinOperatedSpork (Feb 16, 2013)

Kevin said:


> I can't help but see some comparisons to 'file sharing'.



That issue is well documented in peer reviewed journals. I hinted at it earlier in the thread.


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## Ariel (Feb 16, 2013)

Actually, knowing his stance on libraries and books I'm much less likely to let my kid read his books.  I say we start a boycott of his works and see how he likes not making any of that money.


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## CoinOperatedSpork (Feb 16, 2013)

moderan said:


> The standard book contract used to have language stipulating how much you get for library sales, book club sales, etc (I haven't seen one in ten years or so). It's less than you'd think. But the word of mouth generated by each are more than worth the drop in cash payout.
> And CoinOperatedSpork-great username. I dunno about the others, I understood what you meant when you said you were playing devil's advocate. I maintain the stance made explicit in the OP's title-Terry Deary is an idiot. He's trying to attract attention to his work by making controversial statements. But he's made it into something else. Few people are talking about his books. Instead, they're talking about what a major dimbulb he is.


 I agree with your last statement. Some people think that any press is good press. And thank you. I really like my username.


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## Kevin (Feb 16, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> I used 'file sharing' as a pick up line once.  It didn't work.  She said she didn't like giving away her work for free, and she didn't want my viruses.


 So she didn't want her peas, and therefore your carrots...I'm sure I don't get it, but still you are getting someone else's works without paying for them. That's how it's done but there is a point, however disingenuous.


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## bazz cargo (Feb 16, 2013)

I don't know about an idiot but he does appear selfish and short sighted. If there is no encouragement of the next generation of readers and writers then the Idiot's Lantern will rule all and all will be lost.


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## Nemesis (Feb 16, 2013)

He wants to get rid of the one place encouraging children to read? Someone mentioned earlier that the library was like a haven, I couldn't agree more. When I was growing up we didn't really have the money to buy books, especially at the rate I was devouring them. The library was a safe place to go and curl up and read for hours on end, and I always thought that if I ever went anywhere as a writer and got something published I'd support libraries as best I could =P


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## edinfresno (Feb 16, 2013)

If I ever meet Terry Deary in person I will smite him vigorously and with great gusto with a freakishly large stalk of broccoli until he is crawling upon the ground begging for mercy but I shall show him none! No! I shall not! I shall smite him even harder! Then I shall smite him, again! He just proves that, as a species, we're not all that bright. I mean, look at people who kill other people because of arguments over what happens when we die? Okay, you _have_ to see the ridiculous irony in that!


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## Kyle R (Feb 16, 2013)

Yeah, *Terry D*! You're such an idiot.

 (Joking, of course! Don't smite me! *cowers*)


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## Nemesis (Feb 16, 2013)

lmao but... what if? 0_o


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

Naw. Terry D can light up the sky. Terry Deary can't hold his candle.


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## Terry D (Feb 16, 2013)

Hey!  How'd I get pulled into this?  I was sleeping in the library minding my own business.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

You farted in your sleep and lit up the sky 
Mind that candle.


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## JosephB (Feb 16, 2013)

Gosh -- are we allowed to say "farted" these days?


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

Pooted. Had a flatus.


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## JosephB (Feb 16, 2013)

My mom used to knock us upside the head if we said "fart." I still flinch after I say it.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

The Green Mist. Silent but deadly.


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## Circadian (Feb 16, 2013)

I wonder what Terry would say if he saw this thread.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

Terry Deary Go ahead and tell him. I'm sure that he won't care, any more than he cares that Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker, among others, have called him worse.


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## edinfresno (Feb 16, 2013)

Somehow, "barking spiders" is oddly more poetic.


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## moderan (Feb 16, 2013)

Zappa called it "barking pumpkins" and named a record company after the act. What a strange segue this thread has undergone.


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## Ariel (Feb 16, 2013)

Eh, we're writers.  We're a strange bunch.


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## moderan (Feb 17, 2013)

Well, some of us are. Others claim to be, or fondly imagine that it is so. But the strange is equally distributed.


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## edinfresno (Feb 17, 2013)

moderan said:


> Zappa called it "barking pumpkins" and named a record company after the act. What a strange segue this thread has undergone.



You're right! I'd forgotten that and, yes, this is a very strange segue. Hm... Should our "Mr I Hate Libraries" now be known as Terry "Barking Pumpkins" Deary?. It's just a thought. Still, I did spend the better part of my own childhood in our local libraries and it was there that I was made aware of and came to love many authors and literary works that I otherwise may not have known.

Also, I don't see why Terry Deary could have a problem with libraries and where's the logic in thinking that he'd lose money by his works being in libraries? Looking at it a certain way I see it as free advertising. How can anyone beat free advertising?


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## moderan (Feb 17, 2013)

I don't really understand Deary's take unless it's just for controversy purposes and isn't something he actually believes in. He's taken other weird stances in the past.


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## edinfresno (Feb 17, 2013)

_"I should be getting £180,000... Why are all the  authors coming out in  support of libraries when libraries are cutting  their throats and  slashing their purses?"_

This, more than anything, causes me to rage in a state of absolute disgust and demonstrates to me how very low the great and wonderful art of writing has been dragged into the intolerably filthy sewer of profit over art. 

The same thing has happened to music. As a result our ears are daily assaulted and abused by Gangsta Rap and other garbage.

I think, for too long, we've all been far too silent and far too tolerant of this kind of drivel and, perhaps, it's time for all of us to "go forth to the rooftops and proclaim our mighty YAWP!" as Walt Whitman said we should so very long ago.

After all, it's like an old friend told me many years ago... "If you go to a restaurant, order beans and the waiter brings you burnt beans and you say nothing but just eat them then the cook will think you like burnt beans and that's all you'll ever get."

Frankly, I'm tired of "burnt beans" of this sort which, from my perspective, is presented for no other reason than to create sensation, controversy and annoyance.

In the end I see it as nothing more than a small child running around the house banging a pot with a large spoon and screaming, "look at me! look at me!"


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## nicolam2711 (Feb 17, 2013)

Personally I love libraries. I don't use them as much as I did as a child in a family where no one else reads books for pleasure, without the libraries I'd have quickly ran out of material to read. Now I spend a lot more time browsing book shops and buying books online, which profit authors, because of a love for books nurtured as a child!


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## Rustgold (Feb 18, 2013)

People tend to prejudged towards their own interests.  You talk to a single mum on a 'pension', she might say that the unemployed are dole bludgers who should be made to work.  Talk to an unemployed, and he might say that a single mum is... well I'm sure you get the idea.

David Coultard just last week went on a long rant that everybody should be grateful for what F1 brings to a community (he rant much more than this).  It's just personal interest biases.  Is this idiocy?  Say it to the 4WD city drivers, the $150k wage earners, or the office girls who get a paid lunch each day.


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## moderan (Feb 18, 2013)

As a host of Terry Deary's peer group have come forth and hold pretty much the same opinion as the OP, often worded much more strongly, one would lean toward the confirmation of Deary's Myshkinhood. Even if his aim is to draw negative publicity to himself and so profit thereby, the storm has quieted elsewhere and the kettle should be washed and put away.


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