Archive - March 2015

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7 Literary One Hit Wonders
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7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor
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5 Books About Drug Addiction
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Happy Birthday Bret Easton Ellis

7 Literary One Hit Wonders

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. Last week’s post, 7 Famous Authors Who Died Poor, proved to be very popular, receiving approximately 700 page views last weekend. This week’s post is devoted to 7 literary one hit wonders.

 Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights (1847)

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë, the sister of literary greats Charlotte and Anne Brontë, died at the age of 30, 1 year after the publication of Wuthering Heights. Regarded as a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights has been adapted for film, television and radio.

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty (1877)

Black Beauty

English novelist Anna Sewell was passionate about horses from a young age. But it was not until late in her life that she wrote this equine children’s classic. 50 million copies of Black Beauty have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.

Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind (1936)

Gone with the WindMargaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel, which was later adapted for the silver screen. The author did not like fame and vowed never to write another word. More than 30 million copies of this coming-of-age, historical novel have been printed.

Ross Lockridge Jr.: Raintree County  (1948)

Raintree County

Raintree County is today regarded as a classic of American literature. It took Lockbridge 6 and a half years to complete, in part because his publisher demanded that he shorten the manuscript considerably. The author committed suicide 3 months after the novel’s publication.

J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

The Catcher in the Rye2

Reclusive American author J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye spent 30 weeks on the New York Bestseller List, and went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. The book continues to sell around a quarter of a million copies a year. J.D. Salinger never published another novel.

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) 

To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee is best known for her one and only published book, the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. However the reclusive 88-year-old has a second novel, Go Set a Watchman, due to be published in July of this year.

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)

A Confederacy of DuncesJohn Kennedy Toole was unsuccessful in getting A Confederacy of Dunces published during his lifetime. In 1980, 11 years after his death, his mother succeeded in getting it published. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981.

7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. Here are 7 famous writers who died poor:

 

 H. P. Lovecraft 

Lovecraft

(August 20th 1890 – March 15th 1937)

H.P. Lovecraft was an American author, who is regarded as one of the most important horror fiction writers of the 20th Century. However Lovecraft achieved very little success during his lifetime and was only ever published in pulp magazines. The author lived frugally for much of his adult life, even going without food so he could afford postage stamps. At the age of 46 he died in poverty in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.

 

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19th 1809 – October 7th 1849)

Poe was an author, poet, editor and literary critic, whose tales of mystery and the macabre are still widely read to this day.  One of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, Poe is also widely considered as being the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Despite his popularity Poe was near penniless at the time of his death. This was probably due to his poor financial acumen and rampant alcoholism.

 

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

(October 16th 1854 – November 30th 1900)

Oscar Wilde was a flamboyant writer, poet and playwright, acclaimed for his enduring wit and writing abilities.  At the height of his fame Wilde was a successful playwright.   In 1895 Wilde was arrested for gross indecency with other men.  This culminated in a guilty verdict and large legal fees that forced the writer into bankruptcy. At the age of 46 a near destitute Wilde died of cerebral meningitis in the squalid Hotel d’Alsace in Paris.

  

Herman Melville 

Melville

(August 1st 1819 – September 28th 1891)

Best known for his epic novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville is today regarded as one of the greatest American authors of all time.  Melville’s first book, Typee, quickly became a bestseller, and by his mid-thirties Melville had achieved considerable success.  But this success was short-lived and his career was soon in marked decline, as he found himself beset with financial difficulties. When Melville died in 1891 his works were out of print and he was poor.

 

 O. Henry

O.Henry

(September 11th 1862 – June 5th 1910)

O. Henry was a renowned and prolific short story writer.  In the 10 years prior to his demise he published over 300 stories.  However when he died in 1910 O. Henry was virtually penniless.  This was no doubt due in part to the alcoholism that afflicted him in later years, as well as his carefree attitude to money, which included on several occasions spending his advances, but not delivering the promised story or script.

 

Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston

(January 7th 1891 – January 28th 1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist and author, who wrote 4 novels and more than 50 short stories, plays and essays. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published in 1937. Although Hurston achieved considerable success she later faded into obscurity, and her later years were marred by financial and medical difficulties, which resulted in her living in the St. Lucie County Welfare Home, where she died of heart disease.

 

Joseph Roth

Roth

(September 2nd 1894 – May 27th 1939)

In his prime Joseph Roth was a renowned and well-paid political journalist, in addition to being a novelist.  Roth’s most famous work, The Radetzky March, is regarded as being one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. When Hitler rose to power, Roth, a Jew, fled his adopted home of Berlin. His situation deteriorated further due to severe alcoholism, a wife suffering from schizophrenia and a precarious financial situation. In 1939 Roth died a pauper of delirium tremens in Paris.

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5 Books About Drug Addiction

As I have read a number of books about drug addiction recently, I have decided to dedicate a blog post to the subject.

The following 5 books are presented in the order in which they were published:

 

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey (1800) 

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

Published in 1821, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is widely regarded as being the forefather of addiction literature.  The book embraces an ornate prose style and grandiloquent use of language.

My Review: The first part of this autobiographical work takes the form of a lengthy discourse on the author’s childhood and teenage years… (More)

My Verdict: Downer

 

Novel with Cocaine by M. Ageyev (1934)

Novel with Cocaine

Reprehensible anti-hero Vadim offers some profound insights into the human condition in this depressing, nihilistic and at times humorous novel about adolescence and addiction.

My Review: Set in the years immediately before and after the Russian Revolution, Novel with Cocaine follows the life of Vadim, a Moscow adolescent and student… (More)

My Verdict: Good Stuff

 

Junky by William S. Burroughs (1953)

Junky

Junky is a semi-autobiographical novella, in which the author successfully utilises a detached journalistic approach to capture the obsessive nature of addiction.

My Review: Set in 1950s America and Mexico, Junky is a confessional novella about drug addiction. Its protagonist Bill Lee chronicles his drug-centred existence, … (More)

My Verdict: Good Stuff

 

The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll (1978)

the basketball diaries

Narrated in a candid, brutal and matter of fact manner, The Basketball Diaries is a realistic depiction of an inner city youth drawn into a life of addiction.

My Review: Author Jim Carroll recounts his New York youth in this classic piece of adolescent literature.  The book, which takes the form of seasonal diary entries, … (More)

My Verdict: Okay

 

Wasting Talent by Ryan Leone (2014)

Wasting Talent

Author Ryan Leone uses innovative writing techniques and a frenetic and at times poetic prose style to weave this graphic story about drug addiction.

My Review: Young guitar virtuoso Damien Cantwell is a member of a band in Southern California. Damian is talented, popular and good looking, but has a drug problem… (More)

My Verdict: Good Stuff

 

I plan to expand on this post when I get around to reading Irvine Welsh’s Skagboys and The Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley.

If you haven’t read it already you might be interested in my blog post about drug addicted authors – 7 Famous Drug Addicted Authors.

 

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Happy Birthday Bret Easton Ellis

As Bret Easton Ellis, one of my favourite authors, turns 51 on March 7th, I am devoting this week’s blog post to him.

Easton-Ellis (Born: March 7th 1964)

Bret Easton Ellis rose to prominence when his impressive and controversial first novel, Less Than Zero, was published in 1985 when the author was only 21, and still studying at college. The social commentary and plotless realism that were to become Ellis’s trademark are in evidence throughout this nihilistic first person narrative.

My Review: Set in nineteen-eighties Los Angeles, the story follows eighteen-year-old Clay, returned home for Christmas from college in New Hampshire.  Clay immediately falls back into the L.A. social scene, … (More).

Bret Easton Ellis shot to fame/infamy with his third novel American Psycho, which was widely condemned at the time of its publication for its violence and perceived misogyny.

My Review: American Psycho is a highly controversial novel that brought its young author Bret Easton Ellis instant fame.  The book is written from the perspective of a young Wall Street financier, Patrick Bateman…. (More).

birthday cake

 

His fourth novel, Glamorama, is a satirical work that adeptly captures the hedonism of 1990s New York. In typical Ellis fashion the text is punctuated with numerous pop-culture references, in addition to sporadic descriptions of violence and prolonged graphic sexual encounters. Click here to read my review.

I have also read his sixth novel, Lunar Park.  Lunar Park is a mock memoir that begins with a parodic account of the author’s early fame. Although I am a big fan of Bret Easton Ellis I found Lunar Park to be convoluted and self-indulgent. Click here to read my review.

To this day, Ellis, who has written 7 novels in total, 4 of which have been made into films, continues to cause controversy, not only through his books, but also with his incendiary Tweeting habits, which have included controversial Tweets on such sensitive subjects as HIV and Aids.  This has left the author open to accusations from some that his social media antics are nothing more than publicity stunts.  One might argue that controversy appears to be such an integral part of Ellis’s identity that he will never be able to willingly abandon it. However, regardless of this, there can be no doubt that the iconic author will always be remembered as a literary pioneer and erudite social commentator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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