Talk:Danielle Steel

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This page has been cited as a source by a media organization. The citation is in: Liz Smith. "Some very serious Steel", Buffalo News, December 1, 2006. (details)

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Contents 1 Critical analysis request 2 Footnotes needed 3 BLP Noticeboard response 4 goodday ---can you help me? 5 Article Cleanup 6 Birth place 7 Guinness inaccuracy 8 um.

[edit] Critical analysis request

After reading the phrase "like a Danielle Steel novel" twice, I decided to find out who Danielle Steel was. Unfortunately this page was not very helpful - its content is almost a verbatam copy of the biography distributed by Danielle Steel herself. Would someone who knows better please add some critical analysis?

"Steel maintains a strong interest in the well-being of children, and has raised nine of her own. She has been married five times, and is currently single." "This was followed by a brief second marriage to a convicted rapist and she soon found herself pregnant out of wedlock with her second child by the heroin addicted William Toth." Sounds like she's very interested in the well being of her children. Also I heard that her books were complete crap. Romance stories for morons at Wal-Mart.

I wouldn't disagree, but Wikipedia isn't a forum for literary criticism. You may feel strongly that her books are drivel, but you aren't Harold Bloom, so it isn't encyclopedic. If a well-known critic said something about her style, we could write about that and remain NPOV. Unfortunately, genre authors like Steel are usually ignored by critics and biographers, so the only resources we have to go on are their own official biographies. Bhumiya (said/done) 05:17, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

what qualifies her for CS aS CATEGORY —Preceding unsigned comment added by CSEI (talk • contribs)

"Wikipedia isn't a forum for literary criticism". Not true at all. When reporting on literature, Wikipedia should report on how a writer's been critically received (with appropriate citations, of course). In fact, this article falls very short of giving a clear indication of what Danielle Steel's writing is like, what her best works are thought to be (and by whom), or how significant she is to the development of literature. If she's so widely read, surely there's merit in exploring such questions. QuartierLatin1968 22:18, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I did not say that literary criticism has no place on on Wikipedia, merely it Wikipedia isn't a forum for literary criticism of our own. While it includes opinions, these opinions are not our own, and that's what I'm arguing against. While we should provide as much information as we can about an author's appraisal by third-party critics, we should not offer our own comments or analysis. This is not controversial: see Wikipedia:No original research. Bhumiya (said/done) 02:10, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Footnotes needed

This whole article needs specific references, particularly in the areas I identified. -- Jreferee 22:57, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] BLP Noticeboard response

In response to a notice on the BLP Noticeboard, and in compliance with WP:BLP, I removed all unsourced negative claims, as well as what I considered to be too much detailed personal information, which was largely also unsourced. There are still some statements that should be sourced, but are not what could be considered libel or an invasion of privacy. If someone can source those statements, please do so. I may have been heavy handed in removing all of the ex husbands's names, if some of them are notable people, they might be able to be reincluded, but should be sourced. Please do not revert my changes until you have reviewed WP:BLP carefully. Crockspot 19:21, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

• Most of the information that previously appeared in this article about Steel's ex-husbands is verifiable and has been reported at various times in major newspapers and magazines. The information should be restored but with citations to such press reports for each factual item. I may work on that myself unless someone else gets to that first. --Metropolitan90 10:11, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Perhaps but is it really that noteable for it all to merit inclusion. AFAIK, she's primarily noted as a writer not because she has had 5 husbands and a lot of messy marriages. I'm not saying we should exclude it all, but I wonder if there is really any need to mention it in such great detail especially given the state of the article Nil Einne 12:19, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
    • I tend to agree with Nil. Just because something can be verified does not mean is should be included. Certainly any inclusions need citations. Are all of her ex-husbands notable, or is the subject's notability related to their marriage? If not, I would exclude them to protect their privacy. If one or two of her husbands are notable in their own right, I would probably word it like, Steel has been married five times, including marriages to (notable husband1's name), and (notable husband2's name). - Crockspot 15:30, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
      • I assume that the problem is that one of Steel's ex-husbands has been reported to have a criminal record and another one to have had a substance abuse problem. But, in fact, these individuals' problems have been reported about in legitimate news media. I can accept that the ex-husbands are not notable enough to warrant including their problems in this article, but Steel is notable enough that all of her ex-husbands' names and dates of marriage ought to be included in the article. I don't know whether any of the ex-husbands would qualify as notable under WP:BIO in their own right and therefore the issues of criminal record or substance abuse can be omitted if this is a concern under WP:BLP. --Metropolitan90 06:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

This material remains undocumented in the article and has been removed. DGG 21:12, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] goodday ---can you help me?

hey this is april and i was wondering when you were born and what your whole life was like in a way that my readers can understand —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.16.89.5 (talk) 17:40, 4 January 2007 (UTC).

Danielle Steel has nothing to do with this article. I suggest you check with her publishers if you have questions about her life. --Charlene 10:46, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article Cleanup

I went through and sourced the article, and then reorganized it into a more chronological order. I couldn't think of good subheading titles, so please change those if you can think of something better. Let's also try to refrain from putting in any more unsourced comments. Karanacs 19:58, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Birth place

The page on Ms Steel suggests she was born in both New York City and San Francisco at the same time.

As of [1] this still isn't resolved. The cited source says New York; I don't know if the mentions of San Francisco reflect differing sources or just vandalism. (Note that the birth place is mentioned three places). Kingdon 18:42, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

And why nothing about Steel's life as owner/resident of the Spreckels mansion?George415 (talk) 01:48, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Guinness inaccuracy

Far be it from me to criticize the Guinness Book of Records, but there is no consecutive string of 381 or 390 weeks during which Steel was on the NYT Best-Seller List. The proof is here: http://www.hawes.com/pastlist.htm. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.17.115 (talk) 17:17, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

My best guess would be that the Guinness numbers include both hardback and paperback bestsellers. I'm not familiar with the Hawes site, but I assume it lists only hardbacks. Karanacs 17:26, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] um.

"In 2006 Steel reached an agreement with Elizabeth Arden to launch a new perfume, called "Danielle by Danielle Steel." The new fragrance, made of mandarin, jasmine, orchid, rose, amber, and musk scents, is available only in select stores. The target audience for the fragrance is readers of Steel's novels, and she believes that the new scent reflects her characters, saying "fragrances represent so many aspects of like that my characters experiences - commitment, love, and emotion."[21]

Does this not sound like blatant advertising? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.94.144.181 (talk) 19:44, 28 November 2007 (UTC)