When James Patterson was 18 he read James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Henry James and other literary greats while working shifts at a mental hospital near Boston. He remembers being a “literary snoot” at the time, but today still dreams of winning the Nobel prize for literature. Then reality bites as the judges laugh in unison, saying: “Gotcha! Ain’t gonna happen.”
No matter. He has done the next best thing by becoming one of the world’s most successful writers. When we meet, Patterson has two books on the New York Times bestseller list: the thriller Run Rose Run, written with the singer Dolly Parton; and a Women’s Murder Club mystery with his regular co-writer Maxine Paetro. This is normal for him. In all he has
