Books | Guy Portman's Blog

Posthumously Famous Authors III

Aug 16 2013

The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, who became famous after their deaths.

Emily Dickinson

(December 10th 1830 – May 15th 1886)

Born in Amherst, Massachusetts to a wealthy family, Emily Dickinson went on to become a prolific poet with over 1700 poems to her name. During her lifetime Dickinson had fewer than a dozen poems published, and it was only after her death that she became famous.

The very private nature of the poet is undoubtedly one reason for Dickinson’s lack of acclaim during her lifetime. By the late 1860s’ her reclusive habits included rarely leaving the house and even speaking to visitors from the other side of the door.

It was only after her demise when younger sister Lavinia discovered her poetry that family and associates realised just how prolific a poet she had been. The first collection of Dickinson’s poetry was published in 1890, though it was heavily edited. Between 1914 and 1918 nearly a dozen new editions were published and then in 1955 a completed collection of her poetry, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was released. Interest in the poet’s work was to only increase with the passage of time. In 1981 The Manuscript of Emily Dickinson was published and then in 2001 her biography.

Today Emily Dickinson is remembered as an iconic poet and one of the most acclaimed American female writers of all time. Her poetry is studied in schools throughout the country and there was even a stamp to commemorate her in 1971.

Death and immortality are reoccurring themes in Dickinson’s poetry and it can be argued that she achieved the latter with her posthumous fame and place in the hearts of her nation’s readers.

Karl Stig-Erland ‘Stieg’ Larsson

(August 15th 1954 – November 9th 2004)

Notable works: Millennium Series

Larsson was known during his lifetime as a renowned journalist and an independent researcher. However at the time of his death, aged fifty in Stockholm of a heart-attack, after climbing the seven flights of stairs to his office, as the lift was not working, Larsson’s Millennium Series were unpublished manuscripts sitting in his house.

The first, published in Sweden in 2005, received The Glass Key Award for the best Nordic crime novel that same year. The book was published in The United Kingdom in 2008 under its English language title, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The second part of the series, published in Sweden in 2006 is known in the English speaking world as The Girl Who Played with Fire. The following year the final instalment was released, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.

The trilogy saw the author achieve incredible success and posthumous fame. In 2008 Larsson was the second highest selling author in the world and in 2010, USA Today’s author of the year. The Millennium Series has gone on to be adapted for film and television. Hollywood sequels to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig, are in production, and will likely see interest in the series increase yet further. To date about sixty million copies of the Millennium Series have been sold worldwide.

Click here to read Part II.

Amazon’s Assault

Aug 09 2013

Amazon emerged victorious from the ‘Ebook Wars’, their fleet of multi-attack Kindles establishing virtual air dominance, decimating Barnes and Nobles’s woefully under-equipped Nook to such an extent that the company announced in June that they would no longer be manufacturing them.

The world is now being ravaged by ‘The Pricing Wars’. Recent battles have included vigilante book retailer Overstock counter-attacking Amazon with a massive bestselling hardcover title discounting offensive, the likes of which the world has never before witnessed.

One suspects that this kamikaze act by Overstock is nothing more than a courageous but futile last stand that will result in inevitable surrender. Amazon’s victorious army could soon be marching vast lines of defeated Overstock foot soldiers to what some have made out to be the gulags of the 21st Century, Amazon warehouses. There have been accusations that poor treatment and tortuous work conditions are endemic in these tax avoidance enclaves. Others have argued that Amazon has provided a valuable boost to the economy by bringing employment to these former desolate areas, an example being the erection of an Amazon work camp warehouse in remote Chattanooga, Tennessee, where President Obama recently gave a speech.

This is not an isolated incident of defiance from the publishing industry in the face of Amazon’s prolonged assault. From the smoking rubble of their bricks and mortar business, two former foes, Penguin and Random House have formed an alliance to fight the Axis under their new flag, Penguin Random House.

The rhetoric from the the publishing industry and anti-Amazon consumers alike is that Amazon’s attack on their holy city of literature is personal, but in reality it is anything but. Amazon’s autocrat Jeff Bezos is by many accounts not the personal type. Former Amazon subordinate Steve Yegge described Bezos as being a;

“hyper-intelligent alien with a tangential interest in human affairs.”

(Courtesy of www.commerce.wa.gov.au)

Whatever Bezos’s true nature it can appear to the neutral observer that Bezos has a particular disliking for bricks and mortar; the shattered remnants of the high street bears testimony to this. Many would no doubt not be surprised if Bezos’s disdain for bricks and mortar extended to him rejecting housing in favour of living in a pod.

Amazon may well have waged war against the publishing industry, but it is no different to what they have done with the music and film industries. Pricing wars are the order of the day with these too, with discounts of up to 69% on many popular film and television series DVDs.

It is generally considered to be ill-advisable to bite the hand that feeds you and with Amazon’s food delivery service, Amazon Fresh, extending their venture from Seattle to Los Angeles it appears only a matter of time before they will be doing exactly that.

(Click to read Amazon Part 1 and Part 2)

Amazon’s Asian Expansion

Aug 02 2013

“The empire on which the sun never sets” was a phrase often used to describe the British Empire of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but it would be just as apt to describe surging retailing super-power Amazon’s global empire. The Amazon land grab continues to gather pace with the recent announcement of further invasion plans, including the expansion of the Android based Appstore into nearly 200 countries (previously was only the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan). Heavily armoured versions of the all conquering super-sonic Amazon Kindle, the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are set to be deployed in a further 170 countries.

With America and Europe close to submission, Amazon has its long range ballistic missiles pointed eastwards towards Asia. It is apparent that Amazon has very different strategies to gain control of the two continental power-houses, China and India.

With regards India Amazon has utilised a siege mentality. They have sat back and waited patiently whilst India’s own domestic online retailers (e.g. Myntra, Flipkart & Jabong) have fought hard to win over the country’s reluctant online consumers. It appears only a matter of time before Amazon commences a full ground assault, their tanks running roughshod over the gains made by these guerrilla armies. Amazon’s recent launch of Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing in India can be viewed as a strategic base from which total subjugation of the country appears inevitable.

China will be hoping that they are buffered from Amazon’s global expansion by Tibet (a word you won’t find on Amazon.cn). At present Amazon controls less than 1% of the Chinese e-commerce market and many strategists are of the opinion that it will be prove to be very difficult for Amazon to penetrate the Great Wall of China and expand their empire eastwards. Neutral observers have pointed out that Amazon’s efforts may be curtailed by their deal to provide $600m worth of cloud computing services to the CIA, something which one suspects has not exactly endeared them to the Chinese authorities.

(Courtesy of www.wpdailythemes.com)

Whilst China’s rapidly expanding navy has been accused of being aggressive in regional maritime disputes with its smaller neighbours, they will find the Amazon fleet a very different proposition.

There is no doubt that Amazon’s autocrat Jeff Bezos, a man described by google engineer Steve Yegge as having a ‘giant brain’, will have carefully planned his empire’s expansion eastwards. Not only are China and India the most populace nations on the planet with fast growing economies, but Indians are currently the world’s most avid readers, averaging 10.42 hours a week, with China in third place with 8 hours. Amazon has a history of using literature as a decoy to lure its unsuspecting victims into purchasing other consumer items such as televisions and washing machines. It seems inevitable that this strategy will be deployed once again.

To be continued.

Click here to read Part 1.

Posthumously Famous Authors II

Jul 26 2013

The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, who became more famous after they died.

Franz Kafka

(July 3rd 1883 – June 3rd 1924)

Notable works: The Trial, The Castle, Amerika, Contemplation, The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka is today regarded as one of the greatest European writers of the 20th Century. Born in Prague in what was then The Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka did not find fame during his lifetime and what little of his writing was published received only scant attention from the public. Kafka, though always committed to his writing, spent his days working in a variety of roles in the insurance sector and later, managing a family-owned asbestos factory.

The author, who had suffered bad health for many years met his demise when a bout of laryngeal tuberculosis left him being unable to eat because of the pain, resulting in Kafka starving to death in Vienna in 1924.

Posthumous fame came quickly for the German language author when the first of his three novels, The Trial, was published a year after his death in 1925. The following year, The Castle was published and the third of Kafka’s novels, Amerika, followed in 1927. The author’s reputation has only increased over time and his insights into the human condition are viewed by many as being amongst the most poignant of any writer.

Sylvia Plath

(October 27th 1932 – February 11th 1963)

Notable works: The Bell Jar, Ariel, The Collected Poems

The Boston born American writer studied at Cambridge University and later wed British poet Ted Hughes. Sylvia Plath was well regarded as a poet during her short-life, examples of her early success included winning The Glascock Prize for poetry in 1955. In 1960 Plath’s first book of poems, The Colossus, was published.

Plath, who had a history of depression, committed suicide in 1963 by poisoning herself with carbon monoxide, in her own kitchen. Much controversy surrounded her death, with some claiming that Plath had not meant to kill herself, whilst others, particularly feminists blamed Hughes, Plath’s husband, claiming that he had been abusive.

Death did nothing to stop the writer’s growing popularity and respect from the literary establishment. Her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, published a month before her death in the UK, was published in the US in 1971 and went on to achieve critical acclaim. In 1982 Plath won the coveted Pulitzer Prize posthumously for The Collected Poems and then in 1985 her letters, titled Letters Home: Correspondence 1950 -1963 were published.

There is no doubt that Sylvia Plath’s premature death brought her much attention and was a major factor in her becoming something of a martyr to the feminist movement. However her lasting legacy is that today she is regarded as one America’s greatest ever female writers.

Click here to read Posthumously Famous Authors part 1.

Controversial Authors (Part 3)

Jul 12 2013

This is the third and likely final instalment of the Controversial Authors series. The following blog post is dedicated to two widely acclaimed literary figures whose work provoked controversy.

Vladimir Nabokov

(April 22nd 1899 – July 2nd 1977)

Notable works: The Defense, Lolita, Pale Fire, Speak Memory.

Born in Saint Petersburg, the son of a politician, Vladimir Nabokov was a renowned novelist, lepidopterologist (someone specialising in the study of moths) and chess composer (creates endgame studies/chess problems). The author’s first nine novels were in Russian, but it was his later English prose which assured him a place in the pantheon of literary greats.

Lolita, Nabokov’s most famous work, is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth-century. Accolades such as the book’s inclusion in Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels of the twentieth-century bear testimony to this. Lolita is also amongst the most controversial books of all time due to its sensitive subject matter.

The story is about a man named Humbert Humbert, who falls in love with a twelve-year-old girl, Lolita, the daughter of his landlady. Humbert Humbert goes on to marry the mother so he can stay close to Lolita. When the mother dies in a car accident, the protagonist takes care of Lolita, in exchange for sexual favours. Lolita eventually leaves him and marries someone else, infuriating Humbert Humbert to such an extent that he kills the man.

The book’s pedophilic theme resulted in Lolita being rejected by numerous American publishers when it was written in 1953. Two years later the book was published by Olympia Press, a Paris based publisher. To this day the book courts controversy. The producer of a long-running one-man show in Saint Petersburg, in which Leonid Mozgovoy reads out passages from Lolita on-stage, was assaulted after being accused of being a pedophile. A disturbing clip of the incident was posted on YouTube.

Salman Rushdie

(Born: June 19th 1947)

Notable works: Midnight’s Children, Shame, The Satanic Verses.

No list of controversial writers is complete without the inclusion of the Indian born British writer, Salman Rushdie. Rushdie’s second novel, Midnight’s Children, won the Booker Prize in 1981. The author went on to achieve further success with his third novel Shame, published in 1983. His fourth book, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, caused controversy from the outset. The title of the book was deemed offensive by many Muslims as it refers to a number of allegedly pagan verses, temporarily included in the Qur’an and later removed. Some pious Muslims were also displeased that the prophet Abraham was referred to as a ‘bastard’, in addition to various other insertions, too numerous to mention here.

Any hopes Rushdie may have harboured over the furore dying down were shattered when the Supreme Leader of Iran, The Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a Fatwa against the author in January 1989. Rushdie was rushed into the protective custody of Special Branch as rioting, book burnings and fire-bombings raged through the Muslim world. The left-wing bookshop Collets was burned down and a Dillons firebombed as the hatred spread west. In August of 1989 Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh was martyred in a failed plot to blow up the author in Paddington, London. In a separate incident Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death.

To this day the author receives death threats, including a Valentines Day card of sorts that he gets every February 14th, threatening to kill him; and no they are not from one of his four ex-wives.

Click here to read Part 2 of the series.

Amazon’s Domination

Jul 05 2013

Amazon’s aggressive empire expansion shows no sign of abating. An arms race between the major players in the online publishing industry has seen the world ravaged by the ‘Ebook Wars’. Technological advancement and investment has resulted in Amazon’s heavily armed Kindle offerings leaving Barnes and Nobles’s Nook on the brink of annihilation, in a war reminiscent of the carbine rifles versus sharpened bits of coconut conflicts of yesteryear. Barnes and Nobles announced last month that they will stop manufacturing Nooks all together and that they are currently seeking an ally to build them. In the previous fiscal year the Nook lost close to $475m. The continual bombardment also resulted in 20 Barnes and Nobles retail businesses being reduced to dust last year. Amazon currently occupies about two thirds of the US online publishing market and ninety-percent of the UK’s. Analysts argue that Amazon’s updated supersonic multi-attack fighter, the Kindle Fire, is already riding a-mock through the smoking rubble of the online publishing industry.

Tank (Courtesy of www.dragart.com)

The ‘Ebook Wars’ were followed in quick succession by ‘The Pricing Wars’, as Amazon’s enemies battling for survival in the face of a relentless attack, have mimicked their strategy of offering 70% royalties to authors within a certain price category. Kobo, seen by many as the friendly face of online publishing are offering 70% of sales for ebooks between $2.99 and $9.99. Only time will tell if Kobo have any defense for the predicted retaliatory Amazon carpet bombing campaign. It seems doubtful that the friendly face will provide it. Barnes and Nobles’s highest rate for authors is 60%, which might yet prove shrewd in allowing them to slip under the radar, but this strategy offers little defense against the stealth bomber that is KDP Select (An author offers their book for free on Amazon for a limited time as a promotion on condition they remove it from competitors sites).

Of course many have argued that global domination is Amazon’s main objective and that the publishing side is merely a means to an end. Perhaps none have put this as eloquently as @JoeWikert, who Tweeted:

Books are nothing more than roadkill on Amazon’s highway to total retail domination: http://onforb.es/RypySa #TOCcon

Some people have been up-in-arms over the accusation that our sacred books are being used as cannon fodder, others have argued that anything is fair game in war.

Technological advancement has been the deciding factor in global dominance throughout history and this appears to hold true for Amazon, whose complex algorithms and list features, give an arguably more streamlined, user-friendly and informative experience than any of their competitors. Another reason for their success is their sense of community (some claim propaganda) recently bolstered by the capture of Goodreads. For Amazon’s enemies this is a major strategic loss as they will no longer have bases on Goodreads linking them back to their mainland sites. All links will go directly to Amazon HQ.

(Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org)

Goodreads users can expect a considerable reconstruction investment from Amazon, resulting in more complex algorithms that give better book recommendations and an improved interface. However some self-proclaimed whistleblowers are warning users on Goodreads forums to flee and seek refugee status elsewhere, in the face of what they claim is Amazon tyranny, arguing that a take-over will result in a loss of independence. Whether these whistleblowers face extraordinary rendition and detention in some Central Asian Amazon affiliate or become assimilated in a new and improved online environment remains to be seen.

We all have our own opinions about the new world in which we find ourselves, but I am sure that all us book lovers will hope that once the dust settles, a few undamaged bookshops will remain standing, if only for nostalgias sake.

Click here to read Part 2.

Posthumously Famous Authors

Jun 28 2013

The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, who became more famous after they died.

Jane Austen

(December 16th 1775 – July 18th 1817)

Notable works: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emma (1816), Persuasion (1818)

Though Jane Austen achieved a degree of recognition during her lifetime for her prodigious literary talents, she received little personal renown, due in part because she published anonymously. After the author’s death her books became steadily more popular though none of them achieved best-seller status during the 19th Century.

It was the 20th Century that saw Jane Austen meteoric rise to iconic status. During the early decades of the century there was an increase in the academic study of her books and then in 1940 came the first film adaptation of one of her works, the MGM production of Pride and Prejudice, starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. From the 1970s The BBC were making dramatisations of her books, the most successful being the 1990s adaptations of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. These only served to fuel Jane Austen fever, which to this day shows no signs of abating. Not only are her books adored by readers around the world and studied in schools, but her fame has transcended the literary world, evidence of which is her being ranked as the 70th out of ‘100 Greatest Britains’ of all time.

All of which would no doubt have made the bashful author blush if she were still around today. However there is normally a down side to fame, in this instance this may come in the form of the latest adaptation of her work, the soon to be filmed, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Jim Thompson

(September 27th 1906 – April 7th 1977)

Notable works: The Killer Inside Me (1952), The Getaway (1959), The Grifters (1963)

The American novelist and screenwriter is best known for his paperback pulp novels. Jim Thompson started writing for magazines as early as the 1920s and later turned to crime fiction in the 40s’. Despite his prolific output (wrote 20 books in the 1950s alone), he also worked as a journalist to support his family and prodigious alcohol intake. Thompson became well known for The Killer Inside Me (1952), which remains to this day probably his most acclaimed work. He later wrote and co-wrote Hollywood screenplays for prestigious directors, including the iconic Stanley Kubrick, as well as having two of his books adapted for the cinema during his lifetime.

Jim Thompson’s success was however only fleeting and when he died in 1977 he was largely forgotten, his work out of print in his home country and his legacy appeared to be little more than a footnote in the history of pulp fiction.

Today Jim Thompson is widely regarded as one of the greatest crime writers of all time. Not only are his novels back in print but two of them have been adapted for the silver screen, The Getaway (1994) starring Alex Baldwin and Kim Basinger and The Killer Inside Me (2010) starring Casey Affleck.

It appears that Jim Thompson may well have been anticipating future success when he asked his wife to look after his manuscripts and copyrights shortly before his death.

Click on the links to read reviews for The Killer Inside Me and The Getaway

Controversial Authors (Part 2)

Jun 14 2013

Many authors have been branded as being controversial over the course of history. What is viewed as controversial varies over time and what constitutes controversy in one era may well not in a later one. The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, widely regarded as being controversial, who will always be remembered as being pioneers by the literary establishment.

D.H. Lawrence

(September 11th 1885 – March 2nd 1930)

Notable works: Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Rainbow.

David Herbert Lawrence to give him his full name, was a novelist, short-story writer, poet, playwright and literary critic, in addition to being a talented painter. Born into humble means as the son of a coal miner, D.H. Lawrence went on to become one of the most influential writers of his generation. Controversy courted the writer incessantly, primarily because of the perceived explicit nature of his works.

His novel The Rainbow (1915) for instance faced an obscenity trial and was banned, all copies being seized and burnt by the authorities. One of his most famous novels, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) though published was heavily censored, due to what was regarded at the time as its pornographic content.

D.H. Lawrence was eventually forced into a voluntary exile, where after a sustained period of poor health, he succumbed to tuberculosis in France, at the age of only forty-four.

The controversy did not end with his demise. In 1960 Penguin attempted to publish the original version of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but were forced to go to trial due to the ‘Obscene Publications Act’ of the previous year. However as the book was deemed to be of literary merit, it was allowed to be published. In the more permissive era in which we live the controversy surrounding D.H. Lawrence has all but been extinguished and he is now remembered fondly as a literary pioneer and one of the most talented writers of his generation.

Click here to read resident book reviewer Adam’s review of Sons and Lovers.

Bret Easton Ellis

(Born: March 7th 1964)

Notable works: American Psycho, Glamorama, The Informers.

Author Bret Easton Ellis’s third novel, the infamous American Psycho (1991) caused uproar even before its release date. The book was viewed by many in the literary establishment as scandalous; no mean feat in a period of permissive tolerance. The reasons for this were the book’s explicit violent and sexual content as well as its perceived misogynistic elements. American Psycho went on to become a cult classic and one of the most influential books of the nineties.

Easton-Ellis has continued to cause controversy ever since, not only through his books but also with his incendiary Tweeting habits, which have included crude and controversial Tweets on such sensitive subjects as HIV and Aids. These comments have left the author open to accusations from some that they are nothing more than publicity stunts. One might argue that controversy appears to be such an integral part of the author’s identity that he will never be able to willingly abandon it.

Whilst the author and his books are certainly an acquired taste, there is no doubt that Bret Easton Ellis’s destiny as a literary pioneer and social commentator is assured. His works, particularly American Psycho, will be studied and debated for centuries to come.

Click on the links to read my reviews of American Psycho and Glamorama.

Famous Authors Who Died Destitute

Jun 07 2013

Writing is generally regarded as a poorly paid profession. For every J.K.Rowling, Stephen King and Dan Brown there are infinite struggling authors, dreaming of a day when they too might become rich and famous. The advent of the era of the Kindle and ebooks has seen a multitude of new authors entering the publishing arena, hoping to follow the likes of self-published authors such as John Locke and Amanda Hocking in striking gold.

In reality only a tiny minority of authors will ever achieve financial wealth and fame in their lifetimes, but that is not to say that one or two might not discover it posthumously. The following post is dedicated to two world famous and iconic authors, who died poverty stricken and largely forgotten, but went on to achieve the monumental success they deserved years after their demise.

Herman Melville (1819 –1891)

Best known for his epic novel, ‘Moby Dick’, Herman Melville is today regarded as one of the greatest American authors of all time. During his lifetime however Melville did not always receive the acclaim he undoubtedly deserved. Melville’s first book, the Polynesian themed ‘Typee’, quickly became a bestseller and by his mid-thirties Melville had achieved considerable success. But his initial success was short-lived and his career was soon in marked decline as he found himself beset with financial difficulties. Melville was to become so disillusioned with writing that he quit writing novels all-together and became a custom inspector, though he did continue to write poetry.

When Melville died of a heart attack in 1891, not only were his works out of print but he was virtually forgotten and penniless. It was not until the 1920s’ that the public rediscovered Herman Melville and he has remained in readers’ hearts and minds ever since.

Joseph Roth (1894-1939)

The Austro-Hungarian Roth is widely acclaimed as being one of the most influential writers of the inter-war years. In his prime Roth was a renowned and well paid political journalist, in addition to being a prolific novelist. Roth’s most famous book, The Radetzky March, which chronicles the decline of The Austro-Hungarian Empire, is regarded as being one of the greatest novels of the Twentieth Century.

Hitler’s rise to power saw Roth, a Jew, obliged to leave his adopted home of Berlin. His other mounting woes included severe alcoholism, a wife suffering from schizophrenia and a precarious financial situation. In 1936 Roth described himself as ‘Half madman, half corpse.’ Three years later he was to die a pauper, of delirium tremens in Paris, but not before he had written the critically acclaimed, ‘The Legend of The Holy Drinker’. It was to take decades for Roth’s genius to be fully recognised, due in part to the fact that he was largely ignored by the English speaking world. His correspondence, ‘A Life in Letters’, was not translated into English until nearly four decades after his death.

Controversial Authors

May 31 2013

Many authors have been branded as being controversial over the course of history. What actually constitutes controversy is of course a highly subjective matter and an author whose work was viewed as being controversial in one era may not be in a later one. Then there are those authors whose controversy may not be limited only to their work but also to their actions. The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, widely regarded as being controversial, who will always be remembered as being pioneers by the literary establishment.

Voltaire

(November 21st 1694 – May 30th 1778)

Notable works: Candide, Letters on England and Zadig.

Living to the ripe old age of eighty-three in an era with a life expectancy of about fifty, Voltaire is remembered to this day as being a central figure in the 1700’s intellectual movement, The Enlightenment. A prolific and witty writer, Voltaire embraced a variety of writing forms including poems, plays, essays, novels, scientific and historical works. Unrelenting in his criticism of the establishment, church and the order of the day, Voltaire can in many ways be viewed as a modern person, due to his opinions about social reform, his criticism of elements within The Bible and his preaching of religious tolerance. Voltaire’s beliefs and determination to voice them certainly didn’t endear him to many and he had to endure beatings, two stints in The Bastille and a period of exile in London. His most famous work is undoubtedly the novella, Candide, a satirical work that was widely banned at the time due to it being viewed as blasphemous and revolutionary.

William S. Burroughs

(February 5th 1914 – August 2nd 1997)

Notable works: Junkie, Queer, The Soft Machine & The Naked Lunch.

William S. Burroughs will always be remembered as being at forefront of the Beat generation, influencing the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. His works include eighteen novels, in addition to a number of novellas and short stories, many of which are semi-autobiographical in nature. Burroughs’s writing is characterised as being sardonic, dark and often humorous. Arguably his most famous book, the non-linear Naked Lunch was so scandalous at the time of its publication that it underwent a court case under U.S. obscenity laws. A controversial character with a penchant for rent boys and heroin use, Burroughs ended up killing his second wife Joan Vollmer in Mexico after attempting to shoot a water-tumbler, which she had balanced on her head. Even in death controversy continues to follow Burroughs. Only last year a Turkish publisher faced obscenity charges after releasing a Turkish translation of The Soft Machine.

Click here to read a review of The Soft Machine.

Category - Books

Posthumously Famous Authors III

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Amazon’s Assault

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Amazon’s Asian Expansion

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Posthumously Famous Authors II

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Controversial Authors (Part 3)

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Amazon’s Domination

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Posthumously Famous Authors

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Controversial Authors (Part 2)

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Famous Authors Who Died Destitute

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Controversial Authors

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