Sheldon has been publishing his formulaic potboilers for a quarter of century now, one on the average of every two years. The Other Side of Midnight set the pattern that Sheldon would follow. Are critics unfair to this popular writer when they roundly condemn books as schlock, insipid soap operatic garbage? Sheldon takes his writing very seriously. He usually calls himself a storyteller, and his books are at first dictated, not written.

After dictating a mass of material, he spends at least a year eliminating incidents and polishing others. The manuscript, when finally finished, has been rewritten as often as twelve times. Few writers have had as many of their books rise to the number one spot on the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best sellers lists. Granted that his books are potboilers, is Sheldon a type of genius at this kind of writing?

1. Since...