Stop writing, please!

Georg Diez has a good piece in Der Spiegel about writers who need to think about calling it quits.  Diez takes note of the American novelist Philip Roth's decision to stop writing books and believes that a number of other writers should follow Roth's example.

Specifically, Diez mentions Günter Grass (in particular, Grass needs to stop writing bad poetry), Martin Walser, Uwe Tellkamp, and Martin Mosebach. 

In truth, very few wrtiers can sustain greatness over a long career.  The number of writers who we wish had written more (Wolfgang Koeppen comes to mind, or perhaps Werner Bräunig) is far outweighed by writers whose creative powers diminish over time but persist in putting out book after book (Christa Wolf is just one example).  Exceptions to this literary phenomenon are few and far between (Thomas Mann, to be sure, or Philip Roth's late rival John Updike). 

Whom would you add to Diez's list? 

I would immediately add Elfriede Jelinek (we get it already: men are sadists, America is evil, and Austria belongs to the seventh circle of Hell.

On the non-fiction side I can think of any number of writers who should stop: Thilo Sarrazin had his 15 minutes of fame and can stop writing books.  Eva Herman and Udo Ulfkotte never should have picked up a pen to begin with.

Which American writers should follow Roth's advice?  The list is endless:  Tom Wolfe, T. C. Boyle, Barbara Kingsolver, etc

Comments

[James]

I disagree with all your choices. Tom Wolfe takes the pulse of America with his writing. I hope all these writers keep writing and not be discouraged simply because they're not to your taste.

[Hattie]

I think Tom Wolfe is ridiculous.

[koogleschreiber]

People don't write too much, they read too much for pure entertainment.

[Kathryn@knoji]

I don't think it behooves anyone else to say when a writer should stop writing. Why should a writer call a halt to something they love doing? It's not competitive tennis.

I'm sure that those who do decide to stop probably do it because they feel tired or have some disability that prevents them from continuing. If people do something because they enjoy it, because it is an important part of them and it blesses others, they may slow down but it is unlikely that they will stop.

[Jake]

Just for funny? Instant, an Example of the extreme IMBECILITY of Sarrazin and his Followers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h7mCVVc_TDc

Gruss
Jake