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Welcome to Our Generation USA!
This Web Page covers Literature in all its Forms:
Where applicable, you will also find Videos of Movie Trailers from the works of specific author's books that have been made into Movies.
- Authors,
- Publications (e.g., magazines that are online and/or in print)
- Books (e-book, print (paper or hardback), audio),
- Literary Venues (e.g., Libraries, made-for-TV movies, or Movies),
- books made into stage/theater productions, the latter of which includes playwrights.
Where applicable, you will also find Videos of Movie Trailers from the works of specific author's books that have been made into Movies.
Literature, including its History, Genre and Outline
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Shining": Here's Johnny! Scene
Pictured: Best-selling Book Covers for (Clockwise from Upper Left: “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare: “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie; "Double Cross" by James Patterson; and "The Shining" by Stephen King.
Literature, most generically, is any body of written works.
More restrictively, literature is writing considered to be an art form, or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.
Its Latin root literatura/litteratura (derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting) was used to refer to all written accounts, though contemporary definitions extend the term to include texts that are spoken or sung (oral literature).
The concept has changed meaning over time: nowadays it can broaden to have non-written verbal art forms, and thus it is difficult to agree on its origin, which can be paired with that of language or writing itself. Developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature.
Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction, and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Literature:
The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pieces.
Not all writings constitute literature. Some recorded materials, such as compilations of data (e.g., a check register) are not considered literature, and this article relates only to the evolution of the works defined above.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Literature:
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even (as in the case of fiction) length. The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined, often with subgroups.
The most general of genre in literature are:
They can all be in the form of prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a sub-genre (see below), but as a mixture of genres.
Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed.
Genre should not be confused with age categories, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young adult, or children's. They also must not be confused with format, such as graphic novel or picture book.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Literary Genre:
Outline of literature
See also: Index of literature articles
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to literature:
Literature – prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama, and poetry. See also: outline of poetry.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Outline of Literature:
More restrictively, literature is writing considered to be an art form, or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.
Its Latin root literatura/litteratura (derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting) was used to refer to all written accounts, though contemporary definitions extend the term to include texts that are spoken or sung (oral literature).
The concept has changed meaning over time: nowadays it can broaden to have non-written verbal art forms, and thus it is difficult to agree on its origin, which can be paired with that of language or writing itself. Developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature.
Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction, and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Literature:
- Definitions
- Major forms
- History
- Awards
- Essays
- Other prose literature
- Other narrative forms
- Genres of literature
- Literary techniques
- Legal status
- See also:
- Main articles: Index of literature articles
- Philosophy and literature
- Lists:
- Related topics:
- Asemic writing
- Children's literature
- Cultural movement for literary movements.
- English studies
- Ergodic literature
- Erotic literature
- Hinman collator
- Hungryalism
- Literature basic topics
- Literary agent
- Literature cycle
- Literary element
- Literary magazine
- Modern Language Association
- Orature
- Postcolonial literature
- Postmodern literature
- Popular fiction
- Rabbinic literature
- Rhetorical modes
- Vernacular literature
- World literature
- Internet Book List similar to IMDb but for books
- Internet Archive Digital eBook Collection
The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pieces.
Not all writings constitute literature. Some recorded materials, such as compilations of data (e.g., a check register) are not considered literature, and this article relates only to the evolution of the works defined above.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Literature:
- The beginnings of literature
- Antiquity
- Middle Ages
- Renaissance
- Early modern period
- Modern period
- History of the book
- See also:
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even (as in the case of fiction) length. The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined, often with subgroups.
The most general of genre in literature are:
- epic,
- tragedy,
- comedy,
- and creative nonfiction.
They can all be in the form of prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a sub-genre (see below), but as a mixture of genres.
Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed.
Genre should not be confused with age categories, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young adult, or children's. They also must not be confused with format, such as graphic novel or picture book.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Literary Genre:
- Genres
- Major forms
- See also:
Outline of literature
See also: Index of literature articles
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to literature:
Literature – prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama, and poetry. See also: outline of poetry.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Outline of Literature:
- What is literature?
- Essence of literature
- Forms of literature
- Literature by region
- General literature concepts
- Literary awards
- Persons influential in the field of literature
- Literature creation
- Literature distribution
- See also:
List of Best-selling Books
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Lord of the Rings"
Pictured: LEFT: Book Covers for the books “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien; RIGHT: “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling
This page provides lists of best-selling single-volume books and book series to date and in any language. "Best selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list.
The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers, Les Misérables, Pride and Prejudice, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Odyssey that are commonly cited as "best-selling books" yet have no reliable sales figures.
According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time with over 5 billion copies sold and distributed.
However, the Quotations from Chairman Mao, also known as the Little Red Book, has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures — with some sources claiming over 6.5 billion printed volumes, others claiming the distribution ran into the "billions," and others citing "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations."
The Qur'an is also widely reported to be one of the most printed and distributed books worldwide, with billions of copies believed to be in existence.
Exact print figures for these and other books may also be missing or unreliable since these kinds of books may be produced by many different and unrelated publishers, in some cases over many centuries. All books of a religious, ideological, philosophical or political nature have been excluded from this list of best-selling books for these reasons.
Click here for a listing of best-selling books with sales of 100 million or more.
The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers, Les Misérables, Pride and Prejudice, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Odyssey that are commonly cited as "best-selling books" yet have no reliable sales figures.
According to Guinness World Records, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time with over 5 billion copies sold and distributed.
However, the Quotations from Chairman Mao, also known as the Little Red Book, has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures — with some sources claiming over 6.5 billion printed volumes, others claiming the distribution ran into the "billions," and others citing "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations."
The Qur'an is also widely reported to be one of the most printed and distributed books worldwide, with billions of copies believed to be in existence.
Exact print figures for these and other books may also be missing or unreliable since these kinds of books may be produced by many different and unrelated publishers, in some cases over many centuries. All books of a religious, ideological, philosophical or political nature have been excluded from this list of best-selling books for these reasons.
Click here for a listing of best-selling books with sales of 100 million or more.
Authors of Books for Children
YouTube Video of the 1938 Movie Trailer for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
Pictured: LEFT: Illustration from “The Little Mermaid”, a Children’s Book by Hans Christian Andersen; RIGHT: Front piece of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer “ by Mark Twain (Courtesy of True Williams - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division).
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are enjoyed by children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's literature can be traced to stories and songs, part of a wider spoken tradition, that adults shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before printing was invented, is difficult to trace.
Even after printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were originally created for adults and later adapted for a younger audience.
Since the 15th century, a large quantity of literature, often with a moral or religious message, has been aimed specifically at children. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" as this period included the publication of many books acknowledged today as classics.
These writers are notable authors of children's literature with some of their most famous works.
Click here for a list of authors of children's books.
Children's literature can be traced to stories and songs, part of a wider spoken tradition, that adults shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before printing was invented, is difficult to trace.
Even after printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were originally created for adults and later adapted for a younger audience.
Since the 15th century, a large quantity of literature, often with a moral or religious message, has been aimed specifically at children. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" as this period included the publication of many books acknowledged today as classics.
These writers are notable authors of children's literature with some of their most famous works.
Click here for a list of authors of children's books.
Authors of Detective Fiction
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Sherlock Holmes"
Pictured: LEFT: “The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler (Courtesy of Wikipedia.org); RIGHT “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Arthur Conan Doyle (who created the character "Sherlock Homes").
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional or amateur—investigates a crime, often murder.
This is a list of detective fiction authors. Many of these authors may also overlap with authors of crime fiction, mystery fiction, or thriller fiction.
This is a list of detective fiction authors. Many of these authors may also overlap with authors of crime fiction, mystery fiction, or thriller fiction.
Authors of Crime Fiction
YouTube Video for the Movie Trailer for "Kiss Me Deadly"
Pictured: LEFT: “The Godfather” Novel by Mario Puzo; RIGHT "The Spy Who Came in from The Cold” by John le Carre
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals, and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct.
Crime fiction has multiple subgenres, including detective fiction (such as the whodunit), courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction and legal thrillers. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.
Crime fiction is a literary genre in which criminal activity or its detection is the central point of the plot. For authors who write genre stories in which a puzzle must be solved, in almost all cases involving a crime, see Category:American mystery writers.
Most authors of hardboiled detective fiction, in which both action and puzzle-solving are central, are named as both "crime fiction" and "mystery" writers. Most authors of whodunits, in which the puzzle-solving aspect predominates, are named exclusively as writers in the more specific subcategory of "mystery."
Authors of crime fiction in which investigation and solution are nongermane (e.g., The Godfather, The Postman Always Rings Twice) are named in the "crime fiction" category, but not as "mystery" writers.
Click here for a Listing of American Crime Fiction Authors.
Crime fiction has multiple subgenres, including detective fiction (such as the whodunit), courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction and legal thrillers. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.
Crime fiction is a literary genre in which criminal activity or its detection is the central point of the plot. For authors who write genre stories in which a puzzle must be solved, in almost all cases involving a crime, see Category:American mystery writers.
Most authors of hardboiled detective fiction, in which both action and puzzle-solving are central, are named as both "crime fiction" and "mystery" writers. Most authors of whodunits, in which the puzzle-solving aspect predominates, are named exclusively as writers in the more specific subcategory of "mystery."
Authors of crime fiction in which investigation and solution are nongermane (e.g., The Godfather, The Postman Always Rings Twice) are named in the "crime fiction" category, but not as "mystery" writers.
Click here for a Listing of American Crime Fiction Authors.
Authors of Mystery Fiction
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Maltese Falcon"
Pictured: Book covers for LEFT: “The Maltese Falcon” Novel (First Edition Cover) By Dashiell Hammett; and RIGHT: “Ellery Queen: The King is Dead” (under the pen name "Ellery Queen": Cousins Frederic Dannay (Daniel Nathan) and Manfred Bennington Lee (Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky)
Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. In a closed circle of suspects, each suspect must have a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character must be a detective who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts fairly presented to the reader.
"Mystery fiction" can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Mystery fiction may involve a supernatural mystery where the solution does not have to be logical, and even no crime involved.
This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories—supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol.
This contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction.
The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.
Click here for a List of Mystery Fiction Authors.
"Mystery fiction" can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Mystery fiction may involve a supernatural mystery where the solution does not have to be logical, and even no crime involved.
This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories—supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol.
This contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction.
The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.
Click here for a List of Mystery Fiction Authors.
Authors of Horror Fiction
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Shining"
Pictured: Covers of Book Novels by LEFT: William Peter Blatty (“The Exorcist”); RIGHT: Stephen King (“The Shining”)
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.
Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing".
It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society.
Click here for list of Horror Fiction Authors.
Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing".
It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society.
Click here for list of Horror Fiction Authors.
Non-Fictional Books
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "In Cold Blood"
Pictured: Two non-fiction books based on actual crimes and which became best selling novels: First Edition Book Covers for LEFT: “In Cold Blood” (1966) by Truman Capote; RIGHT: “Helter Skelter” (1974) by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
Nonfiction or non-fiction is content (often, in the form of a story) whose creator, in good faith, assumes responsibility for the truth or accuracy of the events, people, and/or information presented.
In This case, we are featuring the sub-category of non-fiction books based on non-fiction novels about murders in the United States:
Click here for a listing of non-fictional books.
In This case, we are featuring the sub-category of non-fiction books based on non-fiction novels about murders in the United States:
- "In Cold Blood" is about the actual 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.
- Helter Skelter" is a true crime book by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. Bugliosi had served as the prosecutor in the 1970 trial of Charles Manson. The book presents his firsthand account of the cases of Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and other members of the self-described Manson Family. It is the best-selling true crime book in history.
Click here for a listing of non-fictional books.
Authors of Romance Novels
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Island in the Sun"
Pictured: Book Covers for LEFT: “Hollywood Wives” (1983) by Jackie Collins; RIGHT: “Amazing Grace” (2007) by Danielle Steele
The romance novel or romantic novel discussed in this article is the mass-market literary genre. Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."
There are many sub-genres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal fiction. There is a literary fiction form of romance, which Walter Scott defined as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvelous and uncommon incidents".
Some scholars see precursors to the genre fiction romance novels in literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, as well as detective fiction.
Heyer's first romance novel The Black Moth, set in 1751, was published in 1921. The British company Mills and Boon began releasing escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books.
An early American example of a mass-market love romance was Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower, which was published in 1972, by Avon Books. This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US, though in the UK the romance genre was long established through the works of Georgette Heyer, and from the 1950s Catherine Cookson, as well as others.
The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of the both genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters.
In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004.
The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, leading to an Anglo-Saxon perspective in the fiction.
Despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism and criticism. Romance erotica seems to be on the rise as more women explore this new sub-genre. Erotica is a term used to describe scenes in the novel that are risqué but not pornographic.
Click here for a List of Romance Novel Authors.
There are many sub-genres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal fiction. There is a literary fiction form of romance, which Walter Scott defined as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvelous and uncommon incidents".
Some scholars see precursors to the genre fiction romance novels in literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, as well as detective fiction.
Heyer's first romance novel The Black Moth, set in 1751, was published in 1921. The British company Mills and Boon began releasing escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books.
An early American example of a mass-market love romance was Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower, which was published in 1972, by Avon Books. This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US, though in the UK the romance genre was long established through the works of Georgette Heyer, and from the 1950s Catherine Cookson, as well as others.
The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of the both genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters.
In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004.
The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, leading to an Anglo-Saxon perspective in the fiction.
Despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism and criticism. Romance erotica seems to be on the rise as more women explore this new sub-genre. Erotica is a term used to describe scenes in the novel that are risqué but not pornographic.
Click here for a List of Romance Novel Authors.
A List of Authors of Science Fiction
YouTube Video of the HBO Movie Trailer for "Fahrenheit 451"
Pictured: Book Covers of Science Fiction Novels LEFT: “The Puppet Masters” (1951: Robert A. Heinlein); and RIGHT “Fahrenheit 451” (1953: Ray Bradbury).
Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. There is also a considerable overlap with the List of fantasy authors, since many authors are equally comfortable with both genres, and in any case some works deliberately combine the two or blur the distinction. Most science fiction authors write as novelists or short story writers, though increasingly, as the genre becomes possible, they write as playwrights or screen writers.
Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.
Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas." It usually eschews the supernatural, and unlike the related genre of fantasy, historically science fiction stories were intended to have at least a faint grounding in science-based fact or theory at the time the story was created, but this connection has become tenuous or non-existent in much of science fiction.
Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.
Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas." It usually eschews the supernatural, and unlike the related genre of fantasy, historically science fiction stories were intended to have at least a faint grounding in science-based fact or theory at the time the story was created, but this connection has become tenuous or non-existent in much of science fiction.
Authors whose books were turned into movies
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Along Came a Spider"
Pictured: Book Covers for Novels Made into Movies for LEFT: “Absolute Power” 1996 Book by David Baldacci, 1997 Movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood); RIGHT: “Along Came a Spider” 1993 Book by James Patterson, 2001 Movie starring Morgan Freeman)
This is a list of fiction works that have been made into feature films. The title of the work and the year it was published are both followed by the work's author, the title of the film, and the year of the film. If a film has an alternate title based on geographical distribution, the title listed will be that of the widest distribution area.
Click here for a list of Fictional Books that were made into Movies.
Click here for a list of Fictional Books that were made into Movies.
Authors whose books were turned into television series
YouTube Video from the Television Series "Perry Mason"
Pictured: Fictional Characters from books made into TV Series:
LEFT: a book about Perry Mason (by Erle Stanley Gardner) that was later televised as “Perry Mason” (CBS: 1957-1966, and starring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason);
RIGHT the book “Homicide: a Year on the Killing Streets” (1991 by David Simon) that spawned the TV series “Homicide: Life on the Street” (NBC: 1993-1999)
Famous Poets of All Time
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Romeo and Juliet"
Pictured: Book Covers for LEFT: “The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged (1969) by Robert Frost; RIGHT” “The Love Songs of J. Alfred Prufrock and other Poems” (1915) by T. S. Eliot
A poet is a person who writes poetry, which is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as poets by others. A poet may simply be a writer of poetry, or may perform their art to an audience.
The work of a poet is essentially one of communication, either expressing ideas in a literal sense, such as writing about a specific event or place, or metaphorically. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and time periods.
Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed through the course of literary history, resulting in a history of poets as diverse as the literature they have produced.
The Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly.
The work of a poet is essentially one of communication, either expressing ideas in a literal sense, such as writing about a specific event or place, or metaphorically. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and time periods.
Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed through the course of literary history, resulting in a history of poets as diverse as the literature they have produced.
The Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly.
Authors who write Biographies
Pictured: Book Covers of Biographies by Authors: LEFT: “Steve Jobs” (2011) by Walter Isaacson; RIGHT: “The Death of a President” about the assassination of President John. F. Kennedy and written by William Manchester.
This is an alphabetical listing of biographers. A biography (or simply bio) is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, but also portrays a subject's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography.
An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is written by the person himself or herself, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter.
Click here for an alphabetical listing of biographers.
Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography.
An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is written by the person himself or herself, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter.
Click here for an alphabetical listing of biographers.
Listing of Authors who have written thriller fiction books
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for "The Da Vinci Code"
Pictured: Book Covers for LEFT: “The Da Vinci Code” (2003) by Dan Brown; RIGHT: “Jurassic Park” (1990) by Michael Crichton
The List of Authors of Thriller Fiction is presented alphanumerically. Thrillers are a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. Such books are often associated with spy fiction, war fiction, adventure and detective fiction.
Click here for a list of Authors of Thriller Fiction.
Click here for a list of Authors of Thriller Fiction.
Playwrights of Stage Plays, including a Listing
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Annie Hall"
Pictured: Theatrical Plays written by Neil Simon LEFT: “Barefoot in the Park”; RIGHT: “The Odd Couple”
A playwright writes plays for theatrical and other production. Click here to access an alphabetical listing of playwrights.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) including a List of Shakespearean Actors
YouTube Video: Act 2, Scene 1 | Romeo and Juliet | Royal Shakespeare Company
Click here for a List of Shakespearean Actors.
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres.
Shakespeare then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, however, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare's. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time".
In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about William Shakespeare:
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres.
Shakespeare then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, however, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare's. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time".
In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about William Shakespeare:
- Life
- Plays
- Poems
- Sonnets
- Style
- Influence
- Critical reputation
- Works
- Speculation about Shakespeare
- See also:
- Outline of William Shakespeare
- English Renaissance theater
- Spelling of Shakespeare's name
- World Shakespeare Bibliography
- Internet Shakespeare Editions
- Folger Digital Texts
- Open Source Shakespeare complete works, with search engine and concordance
- First Four Folios at Miami University Library, digital collection
- The Shakespeare Quartos Archive
- Shakespeare's sonnets, poems, and texts at Poets.org
- Shakespeare's Words the online version of the best selling glossary and language companion
- Shakespeare and Music
- Shakespeare's Will from The National Archives
- Works by William Shakespeare set to music: free scores in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
- William Shakespeare on IMDb
- Works by William Shakespeare at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about William Shakespeare at Internet Archive
- Works by William Shakespeare at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Discovering Literature: Shakespeare at the British Library
- William Shakespeare at the British Library
Stephen King
YouTube Video: "Has Stephen King Won Writing" courtesy of the Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Pictured: Stephen King receiving the National Medal of Arts from President Obama on September 11, 2015.
Click here for a List of Books that Stephen King authored.
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows, and comic books.
King has published 54 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and six non-fiction books. He has written nearly 200 short stories, most of which have been collected in book collections.
Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine. His novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was the basis for the movie The Shawshank Redemption which is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. His novella The Way Station (1980) was a Nebula Award novelette nominee.
In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His short story "The Man in the Black Suit" (1994) received the O. Henry Award.
He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire oeuvre, such as the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (2004), the Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2007), and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America (2007).
In 2015, King was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the United States National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature.
Click here for more about Stephen King.
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows, and comic books.
King has published 54 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and six non-fiction books. He has written nearly 200 short stories, most of which have been collected in book collections.
Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine. His novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was the basis for the movie The Shawshank Redemption which is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. His novella The Way Station (1980) was a Nebula Award novelette nominee.
In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His short story "The Man in the Black Suit" (1994) received the O. Henry Award.
He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire oeuvre, such as the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (2004), the Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2007), and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America (2007).
In 2015, King was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the United States National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature.
Click here for more about Stephen King.
Mark Twain
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)*
* -- "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel".
Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada.
He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. His humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner.
This short story brought international attention and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision.
Twain filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but he eventually overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, even after he had no legal responsibility to do so.
Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mark Twain:
Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada.
He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. His humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner.
This short story brought international attention and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision.
Twain filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but he eventually overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, even after he had no legal responsibility to do so.
Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mark Twain:
- Biography
- Writing
- Views
- Pen names
- Legacy and depictions
- Bibliography
- See also:
- Mark Twain – Wikipedia book
- Children's Literature portal
- American Literary Regionalism
- American Realism
- Back-translation
- Bernard DeVoto (historian)
- Christian Science (book)
- Thomas S. Hinde, friend who corresponded with Mark Twain throughout his life.
- List of premature obituaries
- Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site
- Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
- Mark Twain Riverboat
- Mark Twain's Library of Humor (anthology)
- Steamboats of the Mississippi
- Territorial Enterprise (newspaper)
- Warsaw Signal (newspaper)
- Mark Twain at DMOZ
- Mark Twain Museum at the Territorial Enterprise – Mark Twain Museum, Territorial Enterprise Building, Virginia City, Nevada Web site
- Mark Twain House Museum Web site
- Works by Mark Twain:
- Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, 2010 – Free Online – Mark Twain Project Online
- Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2, 2013 – Free Online – Mark Twain Project Online
- 38 Facsimile copies of 1st editions
- Works by Mark Twain at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Mark Twain at Internet Archive
- Works by or about Samuel Langhorne Clemens at Internet Archive
- Works by Mark Twain at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Mark Twain Library, University of California Press. This series reprints texts from the Papers and Works for students and the general reader.
- The Works of Mark Twain, University of California Press. This series prints authoritative critical editions of Mark Twain's published works.
- Mark Twain Papers, University of California Press. This series publishes Mark Twain's private papers – his letters, notebooks, unpublished literary works, and autobiography.
- Jumping Frogs: Undiscovered, Rediscovered, and Celebrated Writings of Mark Twain, University of California Press. The Jumping Frogs series of books brings neglected Mark Twain treasures—stories, tall tales, novels, travelogues, plays, imaginative journalism, speeches, sketches, satires, burlesques, and much more—to readers.
- "A True Story, Repeated Word for Word As I Heard It" from The Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 1874: 591–594. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Co.
- Academic studies and Archival Collections:
- The Mark Twain Papers and Project of the Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. Home to the largest archive of Mark Twain's papers and the editors of a critical edition of all of his writings.
- Mark Twain Room at Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, which houses the manuscript of Huckleberry Finn
- Samuel Langhorne Clemens collection of papers, 1856-1938 (bulk 1870-1938), held by the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library
- Mark Twain Original Manuscripts from 1862–1909 Shapell Manuscript Foundation
- Life:
- Full text of the biography Mark Twain by Archibald Henderson
- Obituary in San Francisco Call
- Mark Twain's Mississippi at Northern Illinois University Libraries
- "Writings of Mark Twain" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
- Samuel Clemens and His Cigars by Alejandro Benes, in Cigar Aficionado, Winter 1995/1996
- Other:
- Literary Pilgrimages – Mark Twain sites
- PBS Twain Interactive Scrapbook and San Francisco Chronicle article documenting that Clemens did not say "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco".
- article and rare pictures of Mark Twain and photographer Napoleon Sarony
- preserved color portrait of Twain sitting in garden in 1900
- Google map with placemarks for places in America associated with Twain
- A film clip of Mark Twain is available at the Internet Archive
William Faulkner
YouTube Video of Mini Bio: William Faulkner
by Biography.com
William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays, and screenplays. He is primarily known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he spent most of his life.
Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature generally and Southern literature specifically. Though his work was published as early as 1919, and largely during the 1920s and 1930s, Faulkner was relatively unknown until receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, for which he became the only Mississippi-born Nobel winner.
Two of Faulkner's works, A Fable (1954) and his last novel The Reivers (1962), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked his 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury sixth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century; also on the list were As I Lay Dying (1930) and Light in August (1932). Absalom, Absalom! (1936) is often included on similar lists.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about William Faulkner:
Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature generally and Southern literature specifically. Though his work was published as early as 1919, and largely during the 1920s and 1930s, Faulkner was relatively unknown until receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, for which he became the only Mississippi-born Nobel winner.
Two of Faulkner's works, A Fable (1954) and his last novel The Reivers (1962), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked his 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury sixth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century; also on the list were As I Lay Dying (1930) and Light in August (1932). Absalom, Absalom! (1936) is often included on similar lists.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about William Faulkner:
- Life and career
- Writing
- Criticism
- Awards
- Bibliography
- Collections
- Audio recordings
- See also:
- Faux Faulkner contest
- Center for Faulkner Studies
- Mississippi literature
- William Faulkner at the Mississippi Writers Page
- Jean Stein vanden Heuvel (Spring 1956). "William Faulkner, The Art of Fiction No. 12". The Paris Review.
- Nobel Prize in Literature Acceptance Speech (text and audio)
- Works by William Faulkner at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about William Faulkner at Internet Archive
- Works by William Faulkner at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- "Writings of William Faulkner" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
- William Faulkner at Find a Grave
Agatha Christie
YouTube Video of the movie trailer based on the novel "And then there was none" (1945)
Pictured: Some of the 80 novels and short Stories that Agatha Christie wrote.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright.
Christie is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. In 1971 she was made a Dame for her contribution to literature.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She served in a Devon hospital during the First World War, tending to troops coming back from the trenches, before marrying and starting a family in London.
She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six rejections, but this changed when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring Hercule Poirot, was published in 1920. During the Second World War she worked as a pharmacy assistant at University College Hospital, London, during the Blitz and acquired a good knowledge of poisons which featured in many of her novels.
Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author – having been translated into at least 103 languages. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel, with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the best-selling books of all time.
Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952 and as of 2017 is still running after more than 25,000 performances.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honor, the Grand Master Award. Later the same year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award by the MWA for Best Play.
In 2013, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the Crime Writers' Association. On 15 September 2015, coinciding with her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favorite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of her books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics, and more than thirty feature films have been based on her work.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Agatha Christie:
Christie is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. In 1971 she was made a Dame for her contribution to literature.
Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. She served in a Devon hospital during the First World War, tending to troops coming back from the trenches, before marrying and starting a family in London.
She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six rejections, but this changed when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring Hercule Poirot, was published in 1920. During the Second World War she worked as a pharmacy assistant at University College Hospital, London, during the Blitz and acquired a good knowledge of poisons which featured in many of her novels.
Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible.
According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author – having been translated into at least 103 languages. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel, with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the best-selling books of all time.
Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952 and as of 2017 is still running after more than 25,000 performances.
In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honor, the Grand Master Award. Later the same year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award by the MWA for Best Play.
In 2013, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the Crime Writers' Association. On 15 September 2015, coinciding with her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favorite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of her books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics, and more than thirty feature films have been based on her work.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Agatha Christie:
- Life and career
- Childhood and adolescence: 1890–1910
- Early literary attempts and the First World War: 1910–19
- First novels and Poirot: 1919–23
- Disappearance
- Second marriage and later life
- Death
- Writings
- Interests and influences
- Portrayals of Christie
- See also:
- Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (her life story in a 2004 BBC drama)
- Abney Hall (home to her brother-in-law; several books use Abney as their setting)
- Greenway Estate (Christie's former home in Devon. The house and grounds are now in the possession of the National Trust and open to the public)
- Agatha Christie indult (an oecumenical request to which Christie was signatory seeking permission for the occasional use of the Tridentine (Latin) mass in England and Wales)
- Agatha Award
- Agatha Christie Award (Japan)
- Official Agatha Christie site (also Agatha Christie Limited's website)
- Agatha Christie on IMDb
- Works by Agatha Christie at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Agatha Christie at Internet Archive
- Works by Agatha Christie at Open Library
- Agatha Christie/Sir Max Mallowan's blue plaque at Cholsey
- Agatha Christie profile and articles at "The Guardian"
- Agatha Christie profile on PBS.ORG
- Agatha Christie's style and methods, the plot devices that she uses to trick the reader
- Agatha Christie's Profile on FamousAuthors.org
- Imperial War Museum Interview
Ian Fleming
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Goldfinger" (1964)
Pictured: Ian Fleming with his James Bond Novel "Casino Royale"
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was an English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.
Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917.
Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.
His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short-stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels revolved around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6.
Bond was also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Charteris, who was divorced from the second Viscount Rothermere owing to her affair with the author. Fleming and Charteris had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-six times, portrayed by seven actors.
Cliick on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Ian Fleming:
Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917.
Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.
His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short-stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels revolved around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6.
Bond was also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Charteris, who was divorced from the second Viscount Rothermere owing to her affair with the author. Fleming and Charteris had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-six times, portrayed by seven actors.
Cliick on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Ian Fleming:
- Biography
- Birth and family
Education and early life
Second World War
Post-war
1950s
1960s
Death
- Birth and family
- Writing
- Legacy
- Works
- Biographical films
- See also:
Mario Puzo
YouTube Video of the Movie "Godfather Part 2" Movie Trailer
Mario Gianluigi Puzo (October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter and journalist of Italian descent.
He is known for his crime novels about the Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a three-part film saga directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and Part II in 1974.
Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His last novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mario Puzo:
He is known for his crime novels about the Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a three-part film saga directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and Part II in 1974.
Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His last novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mario Puzo:
John Grisham
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer "The Firm"
Pictured below: (TOP) John Grisham and (BOTTOM): Covers of the books Grisham has written
John Ray Grisham Jr. (born February 8, 1955) is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide.
John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to September 1990.
His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. As of 2012, his books have sold over 275 million copies worldwide. A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell 2 million copies on a first printing.
Grisham's first bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, starring Tom Cruise, and a 2012 TV series which "continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel."
Eight of his other novels have also been adapted into films:
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about John Grisham:
John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to September 1990.
His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. As of 2012, his books have sold over 275 million copies worldwide. A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell 2 million copies on a first printing.
Grisham's first bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, starring Tom Cruise, and a 2012 TV series which "continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel."
Eight of his other novels have also been adapted into films:
- The Chamber,
- The Client,
- A Painted House,
- The Pelican Brief,
- The Rainmaker,
- The Runaway Jury,
- Skipping Christmas,
- and A Time to Kill.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about John Grisham:
- Early life
- Career
- Law and politics
Writing career
Southern settings
- Law and politics
- Personal life
- Political activism
- Awards and honors
- Recurring characters
- Jake Brigance
Lucien Wilbanks
Harry Rex Vonner
Teddy Maynard
F. Denton Voyles
Theodore Boone
- Jake Brigance
- Bibliography
- Adaptations
- See also:
- Official website
- John Grisham on IMDb
- Works by or about John Grisham in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Best Selling Books by John Grisham from Local Library
Raymond Chandler
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer "The Big Sleep" (1946)
Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression.
His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine.
His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some more than once.
In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. He died on March 26, 1959, in La Jolla, California.
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is considered to be a founder of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Maskwriters. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective." Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
Some of Chandler's novels are important literary works, and three have been regarded as masterpieces: Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Little Sister (1949), and The Long Goodbye (1953). The Long Goodbye was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Raymond Chandler:
His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine.
His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some more than once.
In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. He died on March 26, 1959, in La Jolla, California.
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is considered to be a founder of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Maskwriters. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective." Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
Some of Chandler's novels are important literary works, and three have been regarded as masterpieces: Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Little Sister (1949), and The Long Goodbye (1953). The Long Goodbye was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Raymond Chandler:
James Patterson
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Along Came a Spider"
James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author and philanthropist. Among his works are the following series:
Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies and he was the first person to sell 1 million e-books.
In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes's list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. His total income over a decade is estimated at $700 million.
In November 2015, Patterson received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, which cited him as a "passionate campaigner to make books and reading a national priority.
A generous supporter of universities, teachers colleges, independent bookstores, school libraries, and college students, Patterson has donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarships with the purpose of encouraging Americans of all ages to read more books."
Click on the following blue hyperlinks for more about James Patterson:
- Alex Cross,
- Michael Bennett,
- Women's Murder Club,
- Maximum Ride,
- Daniel X,
- NYPD Red,
- Witch and Wizard,
- and Private series,
- as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction and romance novels.
Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies and he was the first person to sell 1 million e-books.
In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes's list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. His total income over a decade is estimated at $700 million.
In November 2015, Patterson received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, which cited him as a "passionate campaigner to make books and reading a national priority.
A generous supporter of universities, teachers colleges, independent bookstores, school libraries, and college students, Patterson has donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarships with the purpose of encouraging Americans of all ages to read more books."
Click on the following blue hyperlinks for more about James Patterson:
- Early life
- Career
- Reception
- Personal life
- Bibliography
- Filmography
- See Also:
- Official website United States
- Official website United Kingdom
- James Patterson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- James Patterson at the Internet Book List
- James Patterson on IMDb
- "James Patterson". 10 Questions for. Time Magazine. July 5, 2010.
Edward Albee
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Edward Franklin Albee III (March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story (1958), The Sandbox (1959), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), and A Delicate Balance (1966).
Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play.
His works are often considered as frank examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theater of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet.
His middle period comprised plays that explored the psychology of maturing, marriage, and sexual relationships. Younger American playwrights, such as Paula Vogel, credit Albee's daring mix of theatricality and biting dialogue with helping to reinvent the post-war American theatre in the early 1960s.
Later in his life, Albee continued to experiment in works such as The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edward Albee:
Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play.
His works are often considered as frank examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theater of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet.
His middle period comprised plays that explored the psychology of maturing, marriage, and sexual relationships. Younger American playwrights, such as Paula Vogel, credit Albee's daring mix of theatricality and biting dialogue with helping to reinvent the post-war American theatre in the early 1960s.
Later in his life, Albee continued to experiment in works such as The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edward Albee:
- Early life
- Career
- Achievements and honors
- Philanthropy
- Personal life and death
- Awards and nominations
- Plays
- Essays
- See also:
Mickey Spillane
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955), based on the novel by Mickey Spillane
Pictured: (L) Mickey Spillane; (R) Cover of Spillane’s First Novel “I, the Jury” (1947)
Frank Morrison Spillane (March 9, 1918 – July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself.
Biography:
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Spillane was the only child of his Irish bartender father, John Joseph Spillane, and his Scottish mother, Catherine Anne.
Spillane attended Erasmus Hall High School, graduating in 1935. He started writing while in high school, briefly attended Fort Hays State College in Kansas and worked a variety of jobs, including summers as a lifeguard at Breezy Point, Queens, and a period as a trampoline artist for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
During World War II Spillane enlisted in the Army Air Corps, becoming a fighter pilot and a flight instructor. While flying over Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, he said, "That is where I want to live." Later, he would use his celebrity status to publicize the Grand Strand on TV, but when it became a popular resort area and traffic became a problem, Spillane said, "I shouldn't have told people about it."
Spillane was an active Jehovah's Witness. Mickey and Mary Ann Spillane had four children (Caroline, Kathy, Michael, Ward), and their marriage ended in 1962. In November 1965, he married his second wife, nightclub singer Sherri Malinou. After that marriage ended in divorce (and a lawsuit) in 1983, Spillane shared his waterfront house in Murrells Inlet with his third wife, Jane Rogers Johnson, whom he married in October 1983, and her two daughters (Jennifer and Margaret Johnson).
In the 1960s, Spillane became a friend of the novelist Ayn Rand. Despite their apparent differences, Rand admired Spillane's literary style, and Spillane became, as he described it, a "fan" of Rand's work.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo ravaged his Murrells Inlet house to such a degree it had to be almost entirely reconstructed. A television interview showed Spillane standing in the ruins of his house.
He received an Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master Award in 1995. Spillane's novels went out of print, but in 2001, the New American Library began reissuing them.
Spillane died July 17, 2006 at his home in Murrells Inlet, of pancreatic carcinoma. After his death, his friend and literary executor, Max Allan Collins, began the task of editing and completing Spillane's unpublished typescripts, beginning with a Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone (2008).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mickey Spillane:
Biography:
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Spillane was the only child of his Irish bartender father, John Joseph Spillane, and his Scottish mother, Catherine Anne.
Spillane attended Erasmus Hall High School, graduating in 1935. He started writing while in high school, briefly attended Fort Hays State College in Kansas and worked a variety of jobs, including summers as a lifeguard at Breezy Point, Queens, and a period as a trampoline artist for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
During World War II Spillane enlisted in the Army Air Corps, becoming a fighter pilot and a flight instructor. While flying over Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, he said, "That is where I want to live." Later, he would use his celebrity status to publicize the Grand Strand on TV, but when it became a popular resort area and traffic became a problem, Spillane said, "I shouldn't have told people about it."
Spillane was an active Jehovah's Witness. Mickey and Mary Ann Spillane had four children (Caroline, Kathy, Michael, Ward), and their marriage ended in 1962. In November 1965, he married his second wife, nightclub singer Sherri Malinou. After that marriage ended in divorce (and a lawsuit) in 1983, Spillane shared his waterfront house in Murrells Inlet with his third wife, Jane Rogers Johnson, whom he married in October 1983, and her two daughters (Jennifer and Margaret Johnson).
In the 1960s, Spillane became a friend of the novelist Ayn Rand. Despite their apparent differences, Rand admired Spillane's literary style, and Spillane became, as he described it, a "fan" of Rand's work.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo ravaged his Murrells Inlet house to such a degree it had to be almost entirely reconstructed. A television interview showed Spillane standing in the ruins of his house.
He received an Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master Award in 1995. Spillane's novels went out of print, but in 2001, the New American Library began reissuing them.
Spillane died July 17, 2006 at his home in Murrells Inlet, of pancreatic carcinoma. After his death, his friend and literary executor, Max Allan Collins, began the task of editing and completing Spillane's unpublished typescripts, beginning with a Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone (2008).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mickey Spillane:
- Writing career
- Novels
- Acting
- Critical reactions
- See also:
- History of crime fiction
- Hard boiled American crime fiction writing
- List of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Darren McGavin) episodes
- Mickey Spillane on IMDb
- Biography of Jack Stang - The Real Mike Hammer
- "'Comics Were Great!' A Colorful Conversation with Mickey Spillane", Alter Ego vol. 3, #11, November 2001. Accessed September 5, 2008. WebCitation archive.
- "The Religious Affiliation of Writer of Hard-boiled Detective Novels Mickey Spillane", Crime Time August 6, 2001, via Famous Jehovah's Witnesses. WebCitation archive.
- Petri Liukkonen. "Mickey Spillane". Books and Writers
- Smith, Kevin Burton. "Authors and Creators: Mickey Spillane (Frank Morrison Spillane) (1918-2006)", Thrilling Detective, n.d. WebCitation archive.
- Holland, Steve. "Mickey Spillane: Hardboiled's Most Extreme Stylist or Cynical Exploiter of Machismo?", Crime Time 2.6, December 1999, via MysteryFile.com
- Meroney, John. "Man of Mysteries: It'd Been Years Since Spillane Pulled a Job. Could We Find Him? Yeah. It Was Easy", The Washington Post, August 22, 2001, p. C01. WebCitation archive.
- Mickey Spillane at Find a Grave
Ayn Rand
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Fountainhead" (1949)
Pictured: (L) Book by Ayn Rand; (R) "The Fountainhead Movie" based on the novel of the same name by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism.
Educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. She had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful in America, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.
In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral, and opposed collectivism and statism as well as anarchism, and instead supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including property rights.
In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals.
Literary critics received Rand's fiction with mixed reviews, and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy, though academic interest has increased in recent decades. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings. She has been a significant influence among libertarians and American conservatives.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Ayn Rand:
Educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. She had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful in America, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.
In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own magazines and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism, and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral, and opposed collectivism and statism as well as anarchism, and instead supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including property rights.
In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals.
Literary critics received Rand's fiction with mixed reviews, and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy, though academic interest has increased in recent decades. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings. She has been a significant influence among libertarians and American conservatives.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Ayn Rand:
- Life
- Early life
- Arrival in the United States
- Early fiction
- The Fountainhead and political activism
- Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism
- Later years
- Philosophy
- Reception and legacy
- Selected works
- See Also:
- Ayn Rand at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Frequently Asked Questions About Ayn Rand from the Ayn Rand Institute
- Works by Ayn Rand at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Ayn Rand at Internet Archive
- Works by Ayn Rand at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Rand's papers at The Library of Congress
- Ayn Rand Lexicon – searchable database
- Hicks, Stephen R. C. "Ayn Alissa Rand (1905—1982)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Badhwar, Neera K.; Long, Roderick T. (October 4, 2010). "Ayn Rand". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Ayn Rand on IMDb
- Ayn Rand (Character) on IMDb
- Works by Ayn Rand at Open Library
- "Writings of Ayn Rand" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
- Ayn Rand at Goodreads
Truman Capote
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "In Cold Blood" (1967)
(based on the Novel of the Same Name by Truman Capote)
Truman Garcia Capote (born Truman Streckfus Persons, September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor.
Many of Capote's short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), which he labeled a "nonfiction novel". At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays.
Capote rose above a childhood troubled by divorce, a long absence from his mother, and multiple migrations. He had discovered his calling as a writer by the age of 8 (The Dick Cavett Show, aired August 21, 1980), and for the rest of his childhood he honed his writing ability.
Capote began his professional career writing short stories. The critical success of one story, "Miriam" (1945), attracted the attention of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf, and resulted in a contract to write the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948).
Capote earned the most fame with In Cold Blood, a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home. Capote spent four years writing the book aided by his lifelong friend Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
A milestone in popular culture, In Cold Blood was the peak of Capote's literary career. In the 1970s, he maintained his celebrity status by appearing on television talk shows.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Truman Capote:
Many of Capote's short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), which he labeled a "nonfiction novel". At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays.
Capote rose above a childhood troubled by divorce, a long absence from his mother, and multiple migrations. He had discovered his calling as a writer by the age of 8 (The Dick Cavett Show, aired August 21, 1980), and for the rest of his childhood he honed his writing ability.
Capote began his professional career writing short stories. The critical success of one story, "Miriam" (1945), attracted the attention of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf, and resulted in a contract to write the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948).
Capote earned the most fame with In Cold Blood, a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home. Capote spent four years writing the book aided by his lifelong friend Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
A milestone in popular culture, In Cold Blood was the peak of Capote's literary career. In the 1970s, he maintained his celebrity status by appearing on television talk shows.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Truman Capote:
- Early life
- Friendship with Harper Lee
- Writing career
- Celebrity
- Last years
- Death
- Permanent hometown exhibit
- Capote on film
- Documentaries
- Portrayals of Capote
- Discography
- Works
- See Also:
- Pati Hill (Spring–Summer 1957). "Truman Capote, The Art of Fiction No. 17". Paris Review.
- Truman Capote on IMDb
- Truman Capote at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Truman Capote at Find a Grave
- Truman Capote Literary Society on Facebook
- Works by or about Truman Capote in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Truman Capote reading "A Christmas Memory"
- FBI file on Truman Capote
Charles Dickens
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Jim Carrey's "A Christmas Carol"
A Christmas Carol (2009) Starring Jim Carrey
Pictured: (L) Charles Dickens; (R) Oliver Twist Movie (2005)
Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly installments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.
The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features.
His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London.
His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterizations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism.
The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Charles Dickens:
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly installments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.
The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features.
His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London.
His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterizations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism.
The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Charles Dickens:
- Early years
- Journalism and early novels
- First visit to the United States
- Philanthropy
- Religious views
- Middle years
- Last years
- Second visit to the United States
- Farewell readings
- Death
- Works
- Works by Charles Dickens at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Charles Dickens at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about Charles Dickens at Internet Archive
- Works by Charles Dickens at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Journalism at Dickens Journals Online, an online edition of Household Words and All the Year Round
- Online books, and library resources in your library and in other libraries by Charles Dickens
- Charles Dickens at the British Library
- Organizations and portals
- "Archival material relating to Charles Dickens". UK National Archives.
- Portraits of Charles Dickens at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- The Dickens Fellowship, an international society dedicated to the study of Dickens and his Writings
- Correspondence of Charles Dickens, with related papers, ca. 1834–1955
- Museums
- Dickens Museum Situated in a former Dickens House, 48 Doughty Street, London, WC1
- Dickens Birthplace Museum Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth
- Victoria and Albert Museum The V&A's collections relating to Dickens
- Other
- Charles Dickens at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Dickens on In Our Time at the BBC.
- Charles Dickens's Traveling Kit From the John Davis Batchelder Collection at the Library of Congress
- Charles Dickens's Walking Stick From the John Davis Batchelder Collection at the Library of Congress
- Charles Dickens Collection: First editions of Charles Dickens's works included in the Leonard Kebler gift, (dispersed in the Division's collection). From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
- Archival material at Leeds University Library
Arthur Conan Doyle
YouTube of Movie Trailer for Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Pictured: (L) Biography of Arthur Conan Doyle; (R) the Movie "Sherlock Holmes" (2009)
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, KStJ, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes.
Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective.
The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. Doyle is also known for writing the fictional adventures of Professor Challenger and for propagating the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Arthur Conan Doyle:
Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective.
The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. Doyle is also known for writing the fictional adventures of Professor Challenger and for propagating the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Arthur Conan Doyle:
- Name
- Early life
- Medical career
- Literary career
- Sporting career
- Family life
- Political campaigning
- Justice advocate
- Spiritualism, Freemasonry
- Architecture
- Honours and awards
- Death
- Bibliography
- See also:
- List of notable Freemasons
- Arthur & George (miniseries)
- Bibliowiki has original media or text related to this article: Arthur Conan Doyle (in the public domain in Canada)
- Library resources about Arthur Conan Doyle
- Resources in your library
- Resources in other libraries
- Works by Arthur Conan Doyle at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Arthur Conan Doyle at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by Arthur Conan Doyle at Project Gutenberg Australia
- Works by or about Arthur Conan Doyle at Internet Archive
- Works by Arthur Conan Doyle at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- 1930 audio recording of Conan Doyle speaking
- Arthur Conan Doyle Online Exhibition
- Conan Doyle in Birmingham
- The Arthur Conan Doyle Society
- "Archival material relating to Arthur Conan Doyle". UK National Archives.
- Online works available from the University of Adelaide Library
- Arthur Conan Doyle at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The short film Arthur Conan Doyle (1927) (Fox newsreel interview) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- C. Frederick Kittle's Collection of Doyleana at the Newberry Library
- DOYLE, Sir Arthur Conan, Knt.— Cr. 1902, The county families of the United Kingdom or Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, (Volume ed.59, yr.1919) (page 109 of 415) by Edward Walford
George Orwell
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "1984" (1956)
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.
Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction, and polemical journalism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Orwell's non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, are widely acclaimed, as are his essays on politics, literature, language, and culture.
In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Orwell's work continues to influence popular and political culture, and the term Orwellian – descriptive of totalitarian or authoritarian social practices – has entered the language together with many of his neologisms, including:
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about George Orwell:
Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction, and polemical journalism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Orwell's non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, are widely acclaimed, as are his essays on politics, literature, language, and culture.
In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Orwell's work continues to influence popular and political culture, and the term Orwellian – descriptive of totalitarian or authoritarian social practices – has entered the language together with many of his neologisms, including:
- Big Brother,
- Thought Police,
- Room 101,
- memory hole,
- newspeak,
- doublethink,
- proles,
- unperson,
- and thoughtcrime.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about George Orwell:
- Life
- Literary career and legacy
- Personal life
- Biographies of Orwell
- Ancestry
- Bibliography
- See Also:
- Bibliowiki has original media or text related to this article: George Orwell (in the public domain in Canada)
- George Orwell at Encyclopædia Britannica
- George Orwell on IMDb
- Works by George Orwell at Open Library
- Works by or about George Orwell at Internet Archive
- Works by Eric Arthur Blair at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by George Orwell at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- George Orwell at the Internet Book List
- George Orwell at Goodreads
- Texts at Gutenberg.net.au
- The Orwell Diaries: a daily extract from Orwell's diary from the same date seventy years before
- Blair, Eric Arthur (George Orwell) (1903–1950) at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- George Orwell collection. Walter Havighurst Special Collections, Miami University Libraries
- George Orwell at the BBC
- Riggenbach, Jeff (24 June 2010), "The Brilliant but Confused Radicalism of George Orwell", Mises Daily, Ludwig von Mises Institute
- George Orwell plaques recorded on openplaques.org
- Portraits of George Orwell at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- "Archival material relating to George Orwell". UK National Archives.
- George Orwell at the British Library
- The Orwell Society
H. G. Wells
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Time Machine" (1960)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "War of the Worlds" (2005)
Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946), usually referred to as H. G. Wells, was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, and textbooks and rules for war games.
Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a "father of science fiction", along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.
Wells's earliest specialized training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context.
Wells was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often (but not always, as at the beginning of the First World War) sympathizing with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote little science fiction, while he sometimes indicated on official documents that his profession was that of journalist.
Novels like Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, which describe lower-middle-class life, led to the suggestion that he was a worthy successor to Charles Dickens, but Wells described a range of social strata and even attempted, in Tono-Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of English society as a whole. A diabetic, in 1934, Wells co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association (known today as Diabetes UK).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about H. G. Wells:
Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a "father of science fiction", along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.
Wells's earliest specialized training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context.
Wells was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often (but not always, as at the beginning of the First World War) sympathizing with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote little science fiction, while he sometimes indicated on official documents that his profession was that of journalist.
Novels like Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, which describe lower-middle-class life, led to the suggestion that he was a worthy successor to Charles Dickens, but Wells described a range of social strata and even attempted, in Tono-Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of English society as a whole. A diabetic, in 1934, Wells co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association (known today as Diabetes UK).
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about H. G. Wells:
- Life
- Political views
- Religious views
- Literary influence
- Representations
- Literary papers
- Bibliography
- See Also:
- H. G. Wells on IMDb
- Sources—collections:
- H. G. Wells papers at University of Illinois
- Works by H. G. Wells at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Herbert George Wells at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about H. G. Wells at Internet Archive
- Works by H. G. Wells at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- H. G. Wells at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- H. G. Wells at Goodreads
- H. G. Wells at the Internet Book List
- A Short History of the World, at bartleby.com.
- Quotes by H. G. Wells
- Free H.G. Wells downloads for iPhone, iPad, Nook, Android, and Kindle in PDF and all popular eBook reader formats (AZW3, EPUB, MOBI) at ebooktakeaway.com
- H G Wells at the British Library
- Sources—letters, essays and interviews:
- Archive of Wells's BBC broadcasts
- "Stephen Crane. From an English Standpoint", by Wells, 1900.
- "Introduction", to W. N. P. Barbellion's The Journal of a Disappointed Man, by Wells, 1919.
- "Woman and Primitive Culture", by Wells, 1895.
- Letter, to M. P. Shiel, by Wells, 1937.
- New Statesman – In the footsteps of H G Wells at www.newstatesman.com, H. G. Wells called for a Human Rights Act.
- H. G. Wells, The Open Conspiracy (1933)
- Biography:
- "Wells, Herbert George". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- "H. G. Wells". In Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- "H. G. Wells biography". Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
- Critical essays:
- An introduction to The War of the Worlds by Iain Sinclair on the British Library's Discovering Literature website.
- "An Appreciation of H. G. Wells", by Mary Austin, 1911.
- "Socialism and the Family" (1906) by Belfort Bax, Part 1, Part 2.
- "H. G. Wells warned us how it would feel to fight a War of the Worlds", by Niall Ferguson, in The Telegraph, 24 Jun 2005.
- "H. G. Wells's Idea of a World Brain: A Critical Re-assessment", by W. Boyd Rayward, in Journal of the American Society for Information Science 50 (15 May 1999): 557–579
- "Mr H. G. Wells and the Giants", by G. K. Chesterton, from his book Heretics (1908).
- "The Internet: a world brain?", by Martin Gardner, in Skeptical Inquirer, Jan–Feb 1999.
- "Science Fiction: The Shape of Things to Come", by Mark Bould, in The Socialist Review, May 2005.
- "Who needs Utopia? A dialogue with my utopian self (with apologies, and thanks, to H. G. Wells)", by Gregory Claeys in Spaces of Utopia: An Electronic Journal, no 1, Spring 2006.
- "When H. G. Wells Split the Atom: A 1914 Preview of 1945", by Freda Kirchwey, in The Nation, posted 4 Sep 2003 (original 18 Aug 1945 issue).
- "Evil is in the Eye of the Beholder: Threatening Children in Two Edwardian Speculative Satires," by George M. Johnson. Science Fiction Studies. Vol. 41, No.1 (March 2014): 26–44.
- "Wells, Hitler and the World State", by George Orwell. First published: Horizon. GB, London. Aug 1941.
- "Wells's Autobiography", by John Hart, from New International, Vol.2 No.2, Mar 1935, pp. 75–76
- "History in the Science Fiction of H. G. Wells", by Patrick Parrinder, Cycnos, 22.2 (2006).
- "From the World Brain to the Worldwide Web", by Martin Campbell-Kelly, Gresham College Lecture, 9 Nov 2006.
- "The Beginning of Wisdom: On Reading H. G. Wells", by Vivian Gornick, "Boston Review", 31.1 (2007).
- John Hammond, The Complete List of Short Stories of H. G. Wells
- "H. G. Wells Predictions Ring True, 143 Years Later" at National Geographic
- "H.G. Wells, the man I knew" Obituary of Wells by George Bernard Shaw, at the New Statesman
- "Wells at the World's End", by Adam Roberts
Leo Tolstoy
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for War and Peace (1956)
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (28 August] 1828 – 20 November to 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.
Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War.
Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays.
In the 1870s Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession.
Tolstoy's literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. Tolstoy's ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and James Bevel. Tolstoy also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly Resurrection.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Leo Tolstoy:
Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War.
Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays.
In the 1870s Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession.
Tolstoy's literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. Tolstoy's ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and James Bevel. Tolstoy also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly Resurrection.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Leo Tolstoy:
- Life and career
- Personal life
- Novels and fictional works
- Critical appraisal by other authors
- Religious and political beliefs
- Death
- In films
- Bibliography
- See also:
- Anarchism and religion
- Christian vegetarianism
- List of peace activists
- Tolstoyan movement
- Henry David Thoreau
- Leo Tolstoy at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Works by Leo Tolstoy at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Leo Tolstoy at Internet Archive
- Works by Leo Tolstoy at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Leo Tolstoy at the Internet Book List
- Leo Tolstoy at Find a Grave
- Leo Tolstoy on IMDb
- Leo Tolstoy (Character) on IMDb
Arthur Miller
YouTube Video of Death of a Salesman 1985 Trailer | Dustin Hoffman
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and figure in twentieth-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are:
Miller also wrote several screenplays and was most noted for his work on The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman has been numbered on the short list of finest American plays in the 20th century alongside Long Day's Journey into Night and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee; and was married to Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, Miller received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Prince of Asturias Award and the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2002 and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award.
Click on any of the following for more about Arthur Miller:
- All My Sons (1947),
- Death of a Salesman (1949),
- The Crucible (1953)
- and A View from the Bridge (1955, revised 1956).
Miller also wrote several screenplays and was most noted for his work on The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman has been numbered on the short list of finest American plays in the 20th century alongside Long Day's Journey into Night and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee; and was married to Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, Miller received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Prince of Asturias Award and the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2002 and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award.
Click on any of the following for more about Arthur Miller:
Oscar Wilde
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Pictured: Photograph taken in 1882 by Napoleon Sarony
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was a prolific Irish writer who wrote plays, fiction, essays, and poetry.
After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, Wilde became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.
Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university, Wilde read Greats; he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist.
Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890).
The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) was still being performed in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry prosecuted for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men.
After two more trials Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labor, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison, he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in 1905), a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure.
Upon his release, he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Oscar Wilde:
After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, Wilde became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.
Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university, Wilde read Greats; he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist.
Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890).
The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) was still being performed in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry prosecuted for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men.
After two more trials Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labor, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison, he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in 1905), a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure.
Upon his release, he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Oscar Wilde:
- Early life
- University education: 1870s
- Apprenticeship of an aesthete: 1880s
- Prose writing: 1886–91
- Theatrical career: 1892–95
- Trials
- Imprisonment
- Decline: 1897–1900
- Biographies
- Selected works
- See also:
- Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture
- Historical societies
- Historical notes
- Radio programs
- Oscar Wilde on In Our Time at the BBC.
- Online texts by Wilde
- Wilde texts from University College Cork, electronic texts, including a selection of his journalism
- The Oscar Wilde Collection – text of Wilde's poetry, plays and fiction
- Works by Oscar Wilde at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Oscar Wilde at Internet Archive
- Works by Oscar Wilde at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Oscar Wilde at The Online Books Page
- Works by Oscar Wilde at Open Library
- Oscar Wilde at the British Library
- Images
- Historical Image of Ruskin Street; Oscar Wilde was encouraged to carry out road improvements in this Oxfordshire village by the art critic John Ruskin
- Portraits of Oscar Wilde at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Jules Verne
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008)
Jules Gabriel Verne (French: 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright.
Verne was born to bourgeois parents in the seaport of Nantes, where he was trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, but quit the profession early in life to write for magazines and the stage. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including the following:
Verne is generally considered a major literary author in France and most of Europe, where he has had a wide influence on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His reputation is markedly different in Anglophone regions, where he has often been labeled a writer of genre fiction or children's books, largely because of the highly abridged and altered translations in which his novels are often reprinted.
Verne has been the second most-translated author in the world since 1979, ranking between Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare. He has sometimes been called the "Father of Science Fiction", a title that has also been given to H. G. Wells and Hugo Gernsback.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Jules Verne:
Verne was born to bourgeois parents in the seaport of Nantes, where he was trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, but quit the profession early in life to write for magazines and the stage. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including the following:
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864),
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870),
- and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
Verne is generally considered a major literary author in France and most of Europe, where he has had a wide influence on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His reputation is markedly different in Anglophone regions, where he has often been labeled a writer of genre fiction or children's books, largely because of the highly abridged and altered translations in which his novels are often reprinted.
Verne has been the second most-translated author in the world since 1979, ranking between Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare. He has sometimes been called the "Father of Science Fiction", a title that has also been given to H. G. Wells and Hugo Gernsback.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Jules Verne:
- Life
- Works
- Legacy
- See Also:
- Jules Verne at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Jules Verne at Internet Archive
- Works by Jules Verne at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Zvi Har'El's Jules Verne Collection, including a complete primary bibliography, a collection of academic scholarship, a Verne chronology, and a multilingual virtual library
- Annotated bibliography with summaries of Verne's works
- Jules Verne's works with concordances and frequency list
- A Jules Verne Centennial at the Smithsonian Institution
- The Jules Verne Collecting Resource with sources, images, and ephemera
- Maps from Verne's books
- Jules Verne Biography
- The North American Jules Verne Society
- Centre International Jules Verne
- "Jules Verne biography". Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
- Jules Verne Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
Hans Christian Andersen
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Little Mermaid"
Hans Christian Andersen (Danish: often referred to in Scandinavia as H. C. Andersen (2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875), was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called eventyr in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.
Andersen's fairy tales, of which no less than 3381 works, have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well.
Some of Andersen's most famous fairy tales include:
His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films. One of Copenhagen's widest and most busy boulevards is labeled "H.C. Andersens Boulevard".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Hans Christian Andersen:
Andersen's fairy tales, of which no less than 3381 works, have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well.
Some of Andersen's most famous fairy tales include:
- "The Emperor's New Clothes",
- "The Little Mermaid",
- "The Nightingale",
- "The Snow Queen",
- "The Ugly Duckling",
- "Thumbelina",
- and many others.
His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films. One of Copenhagen's widest and most busy boulevards is labeled "H.C. Andersens Boulevard".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Hans Christian Andersen:
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life
- Death
- Legacy and cultural influence
- Selected works
- See also:
- Kjøbenhavnsposten, a Danish newspaper in which Andersen published one of his first poems
- Pleated Christmas hearts, invented by Andersen
- Vilhelm Pedersen, the first illustrator of Andersen's fairy tales
- Hans Christian Andersen at Encyclopædia Britannica
- Works by Hans Christian Andersen at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Hans Christian Andersen at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about Hans Christian Andersen at Internet Archive
- Works by Hans Christian Andersen at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Hans Christian Andersen at Open Library
- The Story of My Life (1871) by Hans Christian Andersen - English
- Hans Christian Andersen Information Odense
- Hans Christian Andersen biography
- Andersen Fairy Tales
- And the cobbler's son became a princely author Details of Andersen's life and the celebrations.
- The Hans Christian Andersen Centre - contains many Andersen's stories in Danish and English
- The Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense has a large digital collection of Hans Christian Andersen papercuts - You can also explore his Nyhavn study.
- Jean Hersholt Collections of Hans Christian Andersen From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
- Hans Christian Andersen on IMDb
David Simon
YouTube Video of the HBO Series "The Wire" (2002-2008)
David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, writer, and producer. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95) and wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991) and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008).
He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.
Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague at The Baltimore Sun, and on The Wire.
In August 2015, HBO commissioned two pilots from Simon's company Blown Deadline Productions. The first drama, The Deuce, about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s, stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco and began airing in September 2017. The second drama is an untitled program exploring a "detailed examination of partisanship" and money in Washington politics, to be co-produced with Carl Bernstein.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks below for more about David Simon:
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008).
He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.
Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague at The Baltimore Sun, and on The Wire.
In August 2015, HBO commissioned two pilots from Simon's company Blown Deadline Productions. The first drama, The Deuce, about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s, stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco and began airing in September 2017. The second drama is an untitled program exploring a "detailed examination of partisanship" and money in Washington politics, to be co-produced with Carl Bernstein.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks below for more about David Simon:
- Early life
- Career
- Writing process, characteristics, and motivation
- Personal life
- Works and publications
- See also:
- The Audacity of Despair, David Simon's blog
- David Simon on IMDb
- "'The Wire's' David Simon and George Pelecanos" September 23, 2004 Fresh Air
- Margaret Talbot's profile of David Simon in the New Yorker
- The Atlantic. "The Angriest Man in Television" by Mark Bowden. January, 2008.
- Two Separate Americas: David Simon’s New Mini-Series Looks at Hypersegregation in Public Housing August 26, 2015 Democracy Now!
- David Simon on Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans "May Be the Greatest Gift We Have to Offer" August 26, 2015 Democracy Now!
- The Drug War Has to End: David Simon on "The Wire" & Over-Policing of the Poor August 26, 2015 Democracy Now!
David Baldacci
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Absolute Power" (1997)
David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is a bestselling American novelist. Baldacci's first novel, Absolute Power, tells the story of a fictional American President and his Secret Service agents who are willing to commit murder, in order to cover up the accidental death of a woman with whom the President was having an affair. It was adapted as a film, Absolute Power (1997), starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman.
Baldacci wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel Wish You Well; the movie was shot on location in southwest Virginia with Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn, Josh Lucas, and Mackenzie Foy in the lead roles.
Baldacci was a consulting producer on King & Maxwell, a TNT television series based on his characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.
Baldacci's novels have been translated into over 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. Over 110 million copies of his books were in print worldwide, as of 2013.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about David Baldacci:
Baldacci wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel Wish You Well; the movie was shot on location in southwest Virginia with Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn, Josh Lucas, and Mackenzie Foy in the lead roles.
Baldacci was a consulting producer on King & Maxwell, a TNT television series based on his characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.
Baldacci's novels have been translated into over 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. Over 110 million copies of his books were in print worldwide, as of 2013.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about David Baldacci:
- Biography
- Bibliography
- Adaptations
- Absolute Power (1997 film), starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Ed Harris.
- King & Maxwell (2013 TV series), starring Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn.
- Wish You Well (2013 film), starring Mackenzie Foy, Josh Lucas, and Ellen Burstyn.
- See Also:
Alexandre Dumas
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Alexandre Dumas (born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas, père ("father"), was a French writer. His works have been translated into nearly 100 languages, and he is one of the most widely read French authors.
Many of his historical novels of high adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later.
Dumas' novels have been adapted since the early twentieth century for nearly 200 films. Dumas' last novel, The Knight of Sainte-Hermine, unfinished at his death, was completed by a scholar Claude Schopp who was the leading authority on Dumas and published in 2005, becoming a best seller. It was published in English in 2008 as The Last Cavalier.
Prolific in several genres, Dumas began his career by writing plays, which were successfully produced from the first. He also wrote numerous magazine articles and travel books; his published works totalled 100,000 pages. In the 1840s, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris.
His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to a French nobleman and an enslaved African woman, Marie-Cesette. At age 14 Thomas-Alexandre was taken by his father to France, where he was educated in a military academy and entered the military for what became an illustrious career.
Dumas' father's aristocratic rank helped young Alexandre acquire work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans. He later began working as a writer, finding early success.
Decades later, in the election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1851, Dumas fell from favor and left France for Belgium, where he stayed for several years. Upon leaving Belgium, Dumas moved to Russia for a few years before going to Italy. In 1861, he founded and published the newspaper L'Indipendente, which supported the Italian unification effort. In 1864, he returned to Paris.
Though married, in the tradition of Frenchmen of higher social class, Dumas had numerous affairs (allegedly as many as forty). In his lifetime, he was known to have at least four illegitimate or "natural" children; although twentieth-century scholars found that Dumas fathered another three "natural" children. He acknowledged and assisted his son, Alexandre Dumas, to become a successful novelist and playwright. They are known as Alexandre Dumas père (father) and Alexandre Dumas fils (son).
Among his affairs, in 1866, Dumas had one with Adah Isaacs Menken, an American actress then less than half his age and at the height of her career.
The English playwright Watts Phillips, who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill – once set in motion, you never knew when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself."
Click an any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about ALexandre Dumas.
Many of his historical novels of high adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later.
Dumas' novels have been adapted since the early twentieth century for nearly 200 films. Dumas' last novel, The Knight of Sainte-Hermine, unfinished at his death, was completed by a scholar Claude Schopp who was the leading authority on Dumas and published in 2005, becoming a best seller. It was published in English in 2008 as The Last Cavalier.
Prolific in several genres, Dumas began his career by writing plays, which were successfully produced from the first. He also wrote numerous magazine articles and travel books; his published works totalled 100,000 pages. In the 1840s, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris.
His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to a French nobleman and an enslaved African woman, Marie-Cesette. At age 14 Thomas-Alexandre was taken by his father to France, where he was educated in a military academy and entered the military for what became an illustrious career.
Dumas' father's aristocratic rank helped young Alexandre acquire work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans. He later began working as a writer, finding early success.
Decades later, in the election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1851, Dumas fell from favor and left France for Belgium, where he stayed for several years. Upon leaving Belgium, Dumas moved to Russia for a few years before going to Italy. In 1861, he founded and published the newspaper L'Indipendente, which supported the Italian unification effort. In 1864, he returned to Paris.
Though married, in the tradition of Frenchmen of higher social class, Dumas had numerous affairs (allegedly as many as forty). In his lifetime, he was known to have at least four illegitimate or "natural" children; although twentieth-century scholars found that Dumas fathered another three "natural" children. He acknowledged and assisted his son, Alexandre Dumas, to become a successful novelist and playwright. They are known as Alexandre Dumas père (father) and Alexandre Dumas fils (son).
Among his affairs, in 1866, Dumas had one with Adah Isaacs Menken, an American actress then less than half his age and at the height of her career.
The English playwright Watts Phillips, who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill – once set in motion, you never knew when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself."
Click an any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about ALexandre Dumas.
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life
- Death and legacy
- Works
- Dumas Society
- Personal images
- See also:
- Illegitimacy in fiction
- Afro European
- Works by Alexandre Dumas, père at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Alexandre Dumas at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about Alexandre Dumas at Internet Archive
- Works by Alexandre Dumas at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Lost Dumas novel hits bookshelves
- Dumas' Works: text, concordances and frequency lists
- The Alexandre Dumas père website, with a complete bibliography and notes about many of the works
- 1866 Caricature of Alexandre Dumas by André Gill
- Alexandre Dumas et compagnie : Freely downloadable works of Alexandre Dumas in PDF format (text mode)
- Alexandre Dumas Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
- Rafferty, Terrence. "All for One", The New York Times, 20 August 2006 (a review of the new translation of The Three Musketeers, ISBN 0-670-03779-6)
- Alexandre Dumas (pere) at the Internet Book List
- The Reed Dumas collection held at Auckland Libraries
Edgar Allan Poe
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961)
Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic.
Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.
Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Poe was born in Boston, the second child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. They never formally adopted him, but Poe was with them well into young adulthood.
Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name.
It was at this time that his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with the anonymous collection Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement. However, Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point, declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, and he ultimately parted ways with John Allan.
Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Richmond in 1836, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success.
His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. For years, he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced.
Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at age 40; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.
Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edgar Allan Poe:
Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.
Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Poe was born in Boston, the second child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. They never formally adopted him, but Poe was with them well into young adulthood.
Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name.
It was at this time that his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with the anonymous collection Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement. However, Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point, declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, and he ultimately parted ways with John Allan.
Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Richmond in 1836, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success.
His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. For years, he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced.
Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at age 40; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.
Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edgar Allan Poe:
- Life and career
- Death including Griswold's "Memoir"
- Literary style and themes
- Legacy
- In popular culture
- Selected list of works:
- Main article: Edgar Allan Poe bibliography
- Tales
- "The Black Cat"
- "The Cask of Amontillado"
- "A Descent into the Maelström"
- "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
- "The Fall of the House of Usher"
- "The Gold-Bug"
- "Hop-Frog"
- "The Imp of the Perverse"
- "Ligeia"
- "The Masque of the Red Death"
- "Morella"
- "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
- "The Oval Portrait"
- "The Pit and the Pendulum"
- "The Premature Burial"
- "The Purloined Letter"
- "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"
- "The Tell-Tale Heart"
- Poetry
- Other works
- Politian (1835) – Poe's only play
- The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) – Poe's only complete novel
- "The Balloon-Hoax" (1844) – A journalistic hoax printed as a true story
- "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) – Essay
- Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848) – Essay
- "The Poetic Principle" (1848) – Essay
- "The Light-House" (1849) – Poe's last incomplete work
- See also:
- Edgar Allan Poe and music
- Edgar Allan Poe in television and film
- Edgar Allan Poe in popular culture
- List of coupled cousins
- USS E.A. Poe (IX-103)
- Works by Edgar Allan Poe at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Edgar Allan Poe at Internet Archive
- Works by Edgar Allan Poe at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Edgar Allan Poe at Open Library
- Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
- Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore
- Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia
- Edgar Allan Poe's Personal Correspondence Shapell Manuscript Foundation
- Edgar Allan Poe's Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin
- 'Funeral' honours Edgar Allan Poe BBC News (with video) 2009-10-11
- Selected Stories from American Studies at the University of Virginia
Edgar Rice Burroughs
YouTube Video: Tarzan's Greatest Adventure 1959
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American fiction writer best known for his celebrated and prolific output in the adventure and science-fiction genres.
Among the most notable of his creations are the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, and Pellucidar (the world inside our world).
And his most enduring creation - the jungle hero Tarzan - is fit to stand with d'Artagnan, Jeeves, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman as an archetype of the modern hero. Burroughs' California ranch is now the center of the Tarzana neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Aiming his work at the pulps, Burroughs had his first story, Under the Moons of Mars, serialized by Frank Munsey in the February to July 1912 issues of The All-Story – under the name "Norman Bean" to protect his reputation.
Under the Moons of Mars inaugurated the Barsoom series and earned Burroughs US$400 ($9,927 today). It was first published as a book by A. C. McClurg of Chicago in 1917, entitled A Princess of Mars, after three Barsoom sequels had appeared as serials and McClurg had published the first four serial Tarzan novels as books.
Burroughs soon took up writing full-time, and by the time the run of Under the Moons of Mars had finished, he had completed two novels, including Tarzan of the Apes, published from October 1912 and one of his most successful series.
Burroughs also wrote popular science fiction and fantasy stories involving adventurers from Earth transported to various planets (notably Barsoom, Burroughs's fictional name for Mars, and Amtor, his fictional name for Venus), lost islands, and into the interior of the hollow earth in his Pellucidar stories.
He also wrote Westerns and historical romances. Besides those published in All-Story, many of his stories were published in The Argosy magazine.
Tarzan was a cultural sensation when introduced. Burroughs was determined to capitalize on Tarzan's popularity in every way possible. He planned to exploit Tarzan through several different media including a syndicated Tarzan comic strip, movies, and merchandise.
Experts in the field advised against this course of action, stating that the different media would just end up competing against each other. Burroughs went ahead, however, and proved the experts wrong – the public wanted Tarzan in whatever fashion he was offered. Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters to this day and is a cultural icon.
In either 1915 or 1919, Burroughs purchased a large ranch north of Los Angeles, California, which he named "Tarzana". The citizens of the community that sprang up around the ranch voted to adopt that name when their community, Tarzana, California, was formed in 1927. Also, the unincorporated community of Tarzan, Texas, was formally named in 1927 when the US Postal Service accepted the name, reputedly coming from the popularity of the first (silent) Tarzan of the Apes film, starring Elmo Lincoln, and an early "Tarzan" comic strip.
In 1923, Burroughs set up his own company, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and began printing his own books through the 1930s.
Reception and Criticism:
In a Paris Review interview, Ray Bradbury said of Burroughs that "Edgar Rice Burroughs never would have looked upon himself as a social mover and shaker with social obligations. But as it turns out – and I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly – Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world." Bradbury continued that "By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs caused them to go out and decide to become special."
In Something of Myself (published posthumously in 1937) Rudyard Kipling wrote: “My Jungle Books begat Zoos of them. But the genius of all the genii was one who wrote a series called Tarzan of the Apes. I read it, but regret I never saw it on the films, where it rages most successfully. He had ‘jazzed’ the motif of the Jungle Books and, I imagine, had thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was reported to have said that he wanted to find out how bad a book he could write and ‘get away with’, which is a legitimate ambition.” (Ch. 8, “Working Tools”).
Few critical books have arisen concerning Burroughs. From an academic standpoint, the most helpful are the following:
Galloway was identified by James Gunn as "one of the half-dozen finest Burroughs scholars in the world"; Galloway called Holtsmark his "most important predecessor."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edgar Rice Burroughs:
Among the most notable of his creations are the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, and Pellucidar (the world inside our world).
And his most enduring creation - the jungle hero Tarzan - is fit to stand with d'Artagnan, Jeeves, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman as an archetype of the modern hero. Burroughs' California ranch is now the center of the Tarzana neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Aiming his work at the pulps, Burroughs had his first story, Under the Moons of Mars, serialized by Frank Munsey in the February to July 1912 issues of The All-Story – under the name "Norman Bean" to protect his reputation.
Under the Moons of Mars inaugurated the Barsoom series and earned Burroughs US$400 ($9,927 today). It was first published as a book by A. C. McClurg of Chicago in 1917, entitled A Princess of Mars, after three Barsoom sequels had appeared as serials and McClurg had published the first four serial Tarzan novels as books.
Burroughs soon took up writing full-time, and by the time the run of Under the Moons of Mars had finished, he had completed two novels, including Tarzan of the Apes, published from October 1912 and one of his most successful series.
Burroughs also wrote popular science fiction and fantasy stories involving adventurers from Earth transported to various planets (notably Barsoom, Burroughs's fictional name for Mars, and Amtor, his fictional name for Venus), lost islands, and into the interior of the hollow earth in his Pellucidar stories.
He also wrote Westerns and historical romances. Besides those published in All-Story, many of his stories were published in The Argosy magazine.
Tarzan was a cultural sensation when introduced. Burroughs was determined to capitalize on Tarzan's popularity in every way possible. He planned to exploit Tarzan through several different media including a syndicated Tarzan comic strip, movies, and merchandise.
Experts in the field advised against this course of action, stating that the different media would just end up competing against each other. Burroughs went ahead, however, and proved the experts wrong – the public wanted Tarzan in whatever fashion he was offered. Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters to this day and is a cultural icon.
In either 1915 or 1919, Burroughs purchased a large ranch north of Los Angeles, California, which he named "Tarzana". The citizens of the community that sprang up around the ranch voted to adopt that name when their community, Tarzana, California, was formed in 1927. Also, the unincorporated community of Tarzan, Texas, was formally named in 1927 when the US Postal Service accepted the name, reputedly coming from the popularity of the first (silent) Tarzan of the Apes film, starring Elmo Lincoln, and an early "Tarzan" comic strip.
In 1923, Burroughs set up his own company, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and began printing his own books through the 1930s.
Reception and Criticism:
In a Paris Review interview, Ray Bradbury said of Burroughs that "Edgar Rice Burroughs never would have looked upon himself as a social mover and shaker with social obligations. But as it turns out – and I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly – Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world." Bradbury continued that "By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs caused them to go out and decide to become special."
In Something of Myself (published posthumously in 1937) Rudyard Kipling wrote: “My Jungle Books begat Zoos of them. But the genius of all the genii was one who wrote a series called Tarzan of the Apes. I read it, but regret I never saw it on the films, where it rages most successfully. He had ‘jazzed’ the motif of the Jungle Books and, I imagine, had thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was reported to have said that he wanted to find out how bad a book he could write and ‘get away with’, which is a legitimate ambition.” (Ch. 8, “Working Tools”).
Few critical books have arisen concerning Burroughs. From an academic standpoint, the most helpful are the following:
- Erling Holtsmark's two books: Tarzan and Tradition and Edgar Rice Burroughs;
- Stan Galloway's The Teenage Tarzan: A Literary Analysis of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Jungle Tales of Tarzan;
- and Richard Lupoff's two books: Master of Adventure: Edgar Rice Burroughs and Barsoom: Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Martian Vision.
Galloway was identified by James Gunn as "one of the half-dozen finest Burroughs scholars in the world"; Galloway called Holtsmark his "most important predecessor."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Edgar Rice Burroughs:
Herman Melville
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Moby Dick" (1956)
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period.
His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last 30 years.
His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style; the vocabulary is rich and original, a strong sense of rhythm infuses the elaborate sentences, the imagery is often mystical or ironic, and the abundance of allusion extends to biblical scripture, myth, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts.
Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a merchant in French dry goods. His formal education ended abruptly after his father died in 1832, leaving the family in financial straits. He briefly became a schoolteacher before he took to sea in 1839 as a sailor on a merchant ship. In 1840, he signed aboard the whaler Acushnet for his first whaling voyage but jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. He returned to Boston in 1844 after further adventures.
His first book was Typee (1846), a highly romanticized account of his life among Polynesians. It became such a best-seller that he wrote the sequel Omoo (1847). These successes encouraged him to marry Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of a prominent Boston family, but the success proved hard to sustain.
Melville's first novel that was not based on his own experiences was Mardi (1849), a sea narrative that develops into a philosophical allegory—but it was not well received. He received warmer reviews for Redburn (1849), a story of life on a merchant ship, and his 1850 description of the harsh life aboard a man-of-war in White-Jacket, but they did not provide financial security.
In August 1850, Melville moved his growing family to Arrowhead, a farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he established a profound but short-lived friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne, to whom he dedicated Moby-Dick. This novel was another commercial failure, published to mixed reviews.
Melville's career as a popular author effectively ended with the cool reception of Pierre (1852), in part a satirical portrait of the literary culture at the time.
His Revolutionary War novel Israel Potter appeared in 1855. From 1853 to 1856, Melville published short fiction in magazines, most notably "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853), "The Encantadas" (1854), and "Benito Cereno" (1855). These and three other stories were collected in 1856 as The Piazza Tales.
In 1857, he traveled to England where he reunited with Hawthorne for the first time since 1852, and then went on to tour the Near East. The Confidence-Man (1857) was the last prose work that he published. He moved to New York to take a position as Customs Inspector and turned to poetry. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866) was his poetic reflection on the moral questions of the American Civil War.
In 1867, his oldest child Malcolm died at home from a self-inflicted gunshot. Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land was published in 1876, a metaphysical epic. In 1886, his son Stanwix died and Melville retired. During his last years, he privately published two volumes of poetry, left one volume unpublished, and returned to prose of the sea. The novella Billy Budd was left unfinished at his death but was published in 1924.
Melville's death from cardiovascular disease in 1891 subdued a reviving interest in his work. The 1919 centennial of his birth became the starting point of the "Melville Revival." Critics discovered his work, scholars explored his life, his major novels and stories have come to be considered world classics, and his poetry has gradually gained respect.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Herman Melville:
His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last 30 years.
His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style; the vocabulary is rich and original, a strong sense of rhythm infuses the elaborate sentences, the imagery is often mystical or ironic, and the abundance of allusion extends to biblical scripture, myth, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts.
Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a merchant in French dry goods. His formal education ended abruptly after his father died in 1832, leaving the family in financial straits. He briefly became a schoolteacher before he took to sea in 1839 as a sailor on a merchant ship. In 1840, he signed aboard the whaler Acushnet for his first whaling voyage but jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. He returned to Boston in 1844 after further adventures.
His first book was Typee (1846), a highly romanticized account of his life among Polynesians. It became such a best-seller that he wrote the sequel Omoo (1847). These successes encouraged him to marry Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of a prominent Boston family, but the success proved hard to sustain.
Melville's first novel that was not based on his own experiences was Mardi (1849), a sea narrative that develops into a philosophical allegory—but it was not well received. He received warmer reviews for Redburn (1849), a story of life on a merchant ship, and his 1850 description of the harsh life aboard a man-of-war in White-Jacket, but they did not provide financial security.
In August 1850, Melville moved his growing family to Arrowhead, a farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he established a profound but short-lived friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne, to whom he dedicated Moby-Dick. This novel was another commercial failure, published to mixed reviews.
Melville's career as a popular author effectively ended with the cool reception of Pierre (1852), in part a satirical portrait of the literary culture at the time.
His Revolutionary War novel Israel Potter appeared in 1855. From 1853 to 1856, Melville published short fiction in magazines, most notably "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853), "The Encantadas" (1854), and "Benito Cereno" (1855). These and three other stories were collected in 1856 as The Piazza Tales.
In 1857, he traveled to England where he reunited with Hawthorne for the first time since 1852, and then went on to tour the Near East. The Confidence-Man (1857) was the last prose work that he published. He moved to New York to take a position as Customs Inspector and turned to poetry. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866) was his poetic reflection on the moral questions of the American Civil War.
In 1867, his oldest child Malcolm died at home from a self-inflicted gunshot. Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land was published in 1876, a metaphysical epic. In 1886, his son Stanwix died and Melville retired. During his last years, he privately published two volumes of poetry, left one volume unpublished, and returned to prose of the sea. The novella Billy Budd was left unfinished at his death but was published in 1924.
Melville's death from cardiovascular disease in 1891 subdued a reviving interest in his work. The 1919 centennial of his birth became the starting point of the "Melville Revival." Critics discovered his work, scholars explored his life, his major novels and stories have come to be considered world classics, and his poetry has gradually gained respect.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Herman Melville:
- Biography
- Writing style
- Critical response
- Themes
- Legacy and honors
- See Also:
- The Melville Society
- Melville Society Extracts, Archives 1969–2005 Online access to all 125 issues of the magazine.
- Melville Electronic Library: a critical archive Scholarly site hosted at Hofstra University: Editions, Manuscripts, Sources, Melville's Print Collection, Adaptation, Biography, Criticism.
- Melville's Marginalia Online A digital archive of books that survive from Herman Melville's library with his annotations and markings.
- Melvilliana:the world and writings of Herman Melville. A scholarly blog about all things Melville.
- Arrowhead—The Home of Herman Melville
- Physical description of Melville from his 1856 passport application
- Melville's page at Literary Journal.com: research articles on Melville's works
- Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America: Collecting Herman Melville
- Guide to Herman Melville collection at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
- Works by Herman Melville at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Herman Melville at Internet Archive
- Works by Herman Melville at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Herman Melville (Character) on IMDb
Isaac Asimov
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Nightfall" (1957)
Isaac Asimov (born Isaak Ozimov; c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University.
He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer, and wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Asimov wrote hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime.
Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are explicitly set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series.
Later, beginning with Foundation's Edge, he linked this distant future to the Robot and Spacer stories, creating a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson.
He wrote hundreds of short stories, including the social science fiction novelette "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time.
Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.
Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much nonfiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage.
Asimov often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three-volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, history, William Shakespeare's writing, and chemistry.
Asimov was a long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs".
He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn elementary school, and a literary award are named in his honor.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Isaac Asimov:
He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer, and wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Asimov wrote hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime.
Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are explicitly set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series.
Later, beginning with Foundation's Edge, he linked this distant future to the Robot and Spacer stories, creating a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson.
He wrote hundreds of short stories, including the social science fiction novelette "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time.
Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.
Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much nonfiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage.
Asimov often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three-volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, history, William Shakespeare's writing, and chemistry.
Asimov was a long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs".
He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn elementary school, and a literary award are named in his honor.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Isaac Asimov:
- Biography
- Writings
- Writing style
- Views
- Influence
- Television, music, and film appearances
- Selected bibliography
- See also:
- Isaac Asimov Home Page, a vast repository of information about Asimov, maintained by Asimov enthusiast Edward Seiler
- Isaac Asimov at the Internet Book Database of Fiction
- Isaac Asimov on IMDb
- Isaac Asimov at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Isaac Asimov at the Internet Book List
- Isaac Asimov at Goodreads
- Works by Isaac Asimov at Open Library
- Guardian Books "Author Page", with profile and links to further articles.
- Isaac Asimov was Born 90 Years Ago Today by The Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2010
- P.S. 99: The Isaac Asimov School for Science and Literature
- Frederik Pohl on Asimov
- "Isaac Asimov biography". Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
- Jenkins' Spoiler-Laden Guide to Isaac Asimov, reviews of all of Asimov's books
- By Isaac Asimov:
- 15-Book Reading Order as Suggested by Asimov From "Author's Note" of "Prelude to Foundation" Doubleday 1988 hardcover edition
- Works by Isaac Asimov at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Isaac Asimov at Internet Archive
- The short film Interview with Isaac Asimov (1975) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- Works by Isaac Asimov at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Listing of Best-selling Fiction Authors ranked from Highest to Lowest Sales by Author
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Murder on the Orient Express"
Pictured: Best-selling Book Covers for LEFT: “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare RIGHT: “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie
Provides a List of best-selling fiction authors to-date and in any language. While a precise number for any given author is near impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources.
"Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of all fiction books written or co-written by an author. To keep the length of the list manageable, only authors with estimated sales of at least 100 million books are included.
Click here for a list of Authors of best-selling fiction authors.
"Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of all fiction books written or co-written by an author. To keep the length of the list manageable, only authors with estimated sales of at least 100 million books are included.
Click here for a list of Authors of best-selling fiction authors.
Public Libraries in the United States, including a List of the Largest Libraries in the United States
YouTube Video about Libraries of the Future: Tod Colegrove at TEDxReno
YouTube Video from the TV series "Twilight Zone": Episode "Time Enough At Last!"
Pictured below: The Future of Public Libraries
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is generally funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries:
Public libraries exist in many countries across the world and are often considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Public libraries are distinct from research libraries, school libraries, and other special libraries in that their mandate is to serve the general public's information needs rather than the needs of a particular school, institution, or research population.
Public libraries also provide free services such as preschool story times to encourage early literacy, quiet study and work areas for students and professionals, or book clubs to encourage appreciation of literature in adults. Public libraries typically allow users to borrow books and other materials, i.e., take off the premises temporarily; they also have non-circulating reference collections and provide computer and Internet access to patrons.
The culmination of centuries of advances in the printing press, moveable type, paper, ink, publishing, and distribution, combined with an ever-growing information-oriented middle class, increased commercial activity and consumption, new radical ideas, massive population growth and higher literacy rates forged the public library into the form that it is today.
Public access to books is not new. Romans made scrolls in dry rooms available to patrons of the baths, and tried with some success to establish libraries within the empire.
In the middle of the 19th century, the push for truly public libraries, paid for by taxes and run by the state gained force. Matthew Battles states that:
It was in these years of class conflict and economic terror that the public library movement swept through Britain, as the nation's progressive elite recognized that the light of cultural and intellectual energy was lacking in the lives of commoners.
Public libraries were often started with a donation, or were bequeathed to parishes, churches, schools or towns. These social and institutional libraries formed the base of many academic and public library collections of today.
The establishment of circulating libraries in the 18th century, by booksellers and publishers provided a means of gaining profit and creating social centers within the community. The circulating libraries not only provided a place to sell books, but also a place to lend books for a price. These circulating libraries provided a variety of materials including the increasingly popular novels.
Although the circulating libraries filled an important role in society, members of the middle and upper classes often looked down upon these libraries that regularly sold material from their collections and provided materials that were less sophisticated.
Circulating libraries also charged a subscription fee, however the fees were set to entice their patrons, providing subscriptions on a yearly, quarterly or monthly basis, without expecting the subscribers to purchase a share in the circulating library. This helped patrons who could not afford to buy books, to be able to borrow books to read, and then return. This also created a more popular demand, as book fees were growing, and more books were being copied.
Circulating libraries were very popular, the first one was located in 1725, in Edinbrough, Scotland by Allan Ramsay.
Circulating libraries were not exclusively lending institutions and often provided a place for other forms of commercial activity, which may or may not be related to print. This was necessary because the circulating libraries did not generate enough funds through subscription fees collected from its borrowers.
As a commerce venture, it was important to consider the contributing factors such as other goods or services available to the subscribers.
Services:
The main task of public libraries is to provide the public with access to books and periodicals. The American Library Association (ALA), addresses this role of libraries as part of "access to information" and "equity of access"; part of the profession's ethical commitment that "no one should be denied information because he or she cannot afford the cost of a book or periodical, have access to the internet or information in any of its various formats."
Libraries typically offer access to thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of books, the majority of which are available for borrowing by anyone with the appropriate library card.
A library's selection of books is called its collection, and usually includes a range of popular fiction, classics, nonfiction and reference works, books of public interest or under public discussion, and subscriptions to popular newspapers and magazines. Most libraries offer quiet space for reading, known as reading rooms.
Borrowers may also take books home, as long as they return them at a certain time and in good condition. If a borrowed book is returned late, the library may charge a small library fine, though some libraries have eliminated fines in recent years.
About two-thirds of libraries now provide access to e-books and digital or digitized periodicals as well as printed books. Many libraries offer assistance to borrowers, to select books, through specialist Readers' Advisory Services librarians.
Public libraries also provide books and other materials for children. These items are often housed in a special section known as a children's library and attended to by a specialized children's librarian. Child oriented websites with on-line educational games and programs specifically designed for younger library users are becoming increasingly popular. Services may be provided for other groups, such as large print or Braille materials, Books on tape, young adult literature and other materials for teenagers, or materials in other than the national language (in foreign languages).
Libraries also lend books to each other, a practice known as inter-library loan. Inter-library loan allows libraries to provide patrons access to the collections of other libraries, especially rare, infrequently used, specialized and/or out-of-print books. Libraries within the same system, such as a county system, may lend their books to each other, or libraries in different states may even use an inter-library loan system.
The selection, purchase and cataloging of books for a collection; the care, repair, and weeding of books; the organization of books in the library; readers' advisory; and the management of membership, borrowing and lending are typical tasks for a public librarian, an information professional with graduate-level education or experience in library and information science.
In the United States, libraries are responsible for supporting the First Amendment and how it relates to their facilities through policies such as the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights. The right to freedom of speech and information is significant to public libraries; one way of upholding this doctrine is to protect the privacy of all patrons that belong to a library.
The concept of confidentiality is important because the First Amendment may be violated if a patron's information could possibly be shared. Patrons may not feel free to check out certain materials for fear it would later be revealed. Members of society need to be reassured that even if they borrow controversial or embarrassing materials, their privacy will be upheld.
A policy stating a library's view on privacy should be created and displayed where patrons can see when they enter the building. Some libraries require staff to talk about confidentiality or direct the patron to literature on the subject when creating a new library card for patrons
Digital Engagement:
Part of the public library mission has become attempting to help bridge the digital divide. As more books, information resources, and government services are being provided online (see e-commerce and e-government), public libraries increasingly provide access to the Internet and public computers for users who otherwise would not be able to connect to these services.
Public Libraries can also provide community spaces to encourage the general population to improve their digital skills through Library Coding Clubs and Library makerspace.
Almost all public libraries now house a computer lab. Internationally, public libraries offer information and communication technology (ICT) services, giving "access to information and knowledge" the "highest priority".
While different countries and areas of the world have their own requirements, general services offered include free connection to the Internet, training in using the Internet, and relevant content in appropriate languages. In addition to typical public library financing, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business fund services that assist public libraries in combating the digital divide.
In addition to access, many public libraries offer training and support to computer users. Once access has been achieved, there remains a large gap in people's online abilities and skills. For many communities, the public library is the only agency offering free computer classes, information technology learning and an affordable, interactive way to build digital skills.
As of 2012:
A significant service provided by public libraries is assisting people with e-government access and use of federal, state and local government information, forms and services.
In 2006, 73% percent of library branches reported that they are the only local provider of free public computer and Internet access. A 2008 study found that "100 percent of rural, high poverty outlets provide public Internet access. Access to computers and the Internet is now nearly as important to library patrons as access to books.
Classroom and Meeting Space:
Public libraries have a long history of functioning as community centers or public spaces for reading, study and formal and informal public meetings.
In 1898, Andrew Carnegie, a prominent library philanthropist, built a library in Homestead, Pennsylvania, where his main steel mills were located:
Even before the development of the modern public library, subscription libraries were often used as clubs or gathering places. They served as much for social gossip and the meeting of friends, as coffee shops do today. Throughout history, public libraries were touted as alternatives to dance halls or gentleman's clubs, and frequently built, organized and supported because of their equalizing and civilizing influence.
Today, in-person and on-line programs for reader development, language learning, homework help, free lectures and cultural performances, and other community service programs are common offerings.
The library story time, in which books are read aloud to children and infants, is a cultural touchstone. Most public libraries offer frequent story times, often daily or even several times a day for different age groups. Some libraries have begun offering sensory story times for children and adults on the autism spectrum. Sensory story times give patrons "more ways to process information," especially considering people on the autism spectrum are concrete thinkers and/or might have sensory issues to fluorescent lightning or ambient noise other patrons might not notice.
One of the most popular programs offered in public libraries is "summer reading" for children, families, and adults. Summer reading usually includes a list of books to read during summer holidays, as well as performances, book discussions or other celebrations of reading, culture and the humanities.
Many libraries offer classes to the community such as tech clinics where patrons can bring in laptops and electronic devices and receive one on one attention in solving their problems and learning how to use them.
Libraries may also offer free or inexpensive meeting space for community organizations and educational and entrepreneurial activity. The addition of makerspaces in libraries, beginning with the Fayetteville Free Library in 2011, offers the potential for new roles for public spaces and public libraries. Attendance at library programs increased by 22% between 2004 and 2008.
Programming:
While in the past libraries were merely buildings to house their collections, most now utilize their space to offer programs or clubs regularly. Although some libraries will have similar programs with different names, such as book club, writing club or computer programs, most programs will differ based on the specific library and the community they serve.
New studies have shown that librarians must research what their specific community needs, “because communities differ, however, the ways libraries implement these services differ as well. The [example of service response] offered at one library may vary significantly from [the same example] offered by another library. The differences are perfectly appropriate if they result from a tailoring of services to address local needs.”
Websites like Pinterest have numerous ideas for creating programs for local patrons, while the website Instructables has DIY tutorials, complete with pictures, which is helpful for libraries on a budget. "Programs in the humanities and the arts that encourage people to think and talk about ethics and values, history, art, poetry, and other cultures are integral to the library’s mission."
Adult Programs:
Teen Programs:
Children's programs:
Diversity:
A significant goal in American libraries is to become more culturally diverse throughout the country. Public libraries are an equal access facility and want to make everyone feel welcome no matter the religion, race, ethnicity, sex, or financial status.
To accomplish this goal, libraries are striving to find ways in which to make both staff and the library programs they provide more culturally sensitive. A starting point for most libraries is to find out the demographics in which they are located. Once the library system learns more about the community they serve, they can start building a collection and programs around it.
Another suggestion from multiple experts says to hire staff that represents the society that the library is located in order to better relate and serve members of that society. By making culturally diverse programs, a library can be inviting to many members of the community.
A few ways libraries accomplish this goal are by providing programs which are inclusive to many different cultures such as having lectures or events in different languages, including celebrations and holidays that are diverse, and by inviting speakers and authors from different cultures to come and talk.
Research Assistance:
Librarians at most public libraries provide reference and research help to the general public. This can include assisting students in finding reliable sources for papers and presentations; helping the public find answers to questions or evidence in a debate; or providing resources related to a specific event or topic.
Reference assistance is usually provided through a reference interview which is usually conducted at a public reference desk but may also be conducted by telephone or online. Reference librarians may also help patrons develop an appropriate bibliography or works cited page for an academic paper.
Depending on the size of the library, there may be multiple reference desks that deal with different topics. Large public, academic or research libraries may employ librarians that are experts in specific topics or subjects. Often the children's section in a public library has its own reference desk. On the other hand, at a smaller library, circulation and reference may occur at the same desk.
The Internet has had a significant effect on the availability and delivery of reference services. Many reference works, such as the Encyclopædia Britannica, have moved entirely online, and the way people access and use these works has changed dramatically in recent decades.
The rise of search engines and crowd-sourced resources such as Wikipedia have transformed the reference environment. In addition to the traditional reference interview, reference librarians have an increasing role in providing access to digitized reference works (including the selection and purchase of databases not available to the general public) and ensuring that references are reliable and presented in an academically acceptable manner.
Librarians also have a role in teaching information literacy, so that patrons can find, understand and use information and finding aids like search engines, databases and library catalogs.
Public libraries may answer millions of reference questions every year. For example, the Boston Public Library answers more than one million reference questions annually.
Reference Collections:
See also: Archives and Special collections
In addition to their circulating collection, public libraries usually offer a collection of reference books, such encyclopedias, dictionaries, phone books and unique or expensive academic works. These books may not be available for borrowing, except under special circumstances.
Reference books that are frequently used, such as phone books, may be housed in a special section called "ready reference."
Some libraries also keep historical documents relevant to their particular town, and serve as a resource for historians in some instances. For example, the Queens Public Library kept letters written by unrecognized Tiffany lamp designer Clara Driscoll, and the letters remained in the library until a curator discovered them.
Some libraries may also serve as archives or government depositories, preserving historic newspapers, property records or government documents. Collections of unique or historical works are sometimes referred to as special collections; except in rare cases, these items are reference items, and patrons must use them inside the library under the supervision or guidance of a librarian.
Local libraries' special collections may be of particular interest to people researching their family history. Libraries that are focused on collecting works related to particular families are genealogical libraries and may be housed in the same building as a public library.
Many libraries—especially large, urban libraries—have large collections of photographs, digital images, rare and fragile books, artifacts and manuscripts available for public viewing and use. Digitization and digital preservation of these works is an ongoing effort, usually funded by grants or philanthropy.
In 2005, the New York Public Library offered the "NYPL Digital Gallery" which made a collection of 275,000 images viewable over the web; while most of the contents are in the public domain, some images are still subject to copyright rules.
Limited funding, copyright restrictions, a lack of expertise or poor provenance are barriers to the large-scale digitization of libraries' special collections.
Other Services:
Depending on a community's desires and needs, public libraries may offer many other resources and services to the public. In addition to print books and periodicals, most public libraries today have a wide array of other media including audiobooks, e-books, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs.
In 2015, certain libraries started to stock general materials for borrowing, such as pots, pans, sewing machines, and similar household items in order to appeal to a larger population.
Collections of books and academic research related to the local town or region are common, along with collections of works by local authors. Libraries' storage space and lending systems may be used to lend a wide range of materials, including works of art, cake pans, seeds, tools and musical instruments. Similar to museums and other cultural institutions, libraries may also host exhibits or exhibitions.
As more government services move online, libraries and librarians have a role in providing access to online forms and assistance with filling them out. For example, in 2013, American public libraries were promoted as a way for people to access online health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
In rural areas, the local public library may have a bookmobile service, consisting of one or more buses or pack animals (such as burros, camels, donkey, or elephants) furnished as small public libraries, some equipped with Internet access points or computer labs, and serving the countryside according to a regular schedule.
In communities that are extremely isolated or that have poor digital infrastructure, libraries may provide the only access to online education, telemedicine, or telework. Libraries also partner with schools and community organizations to promote literacy and learning.
24-hour library access has been piloted in certain public libraries in North America, such as the Pioneer Library System's Norman Public Library in Oklahoma and Ottawa Public Library in Ontario. Such access may involve anywhere from a "library vending machine", in which print books are mechanically vended to (and dispensed from) patrons, to reduced staff during the night and early morning hours.
Libraries promote cultural awareness; in Newark, New Jersey, the public library celebrated black history with exhibits and programs. One account suggested libraries were essential to "economic competitiveness" as well as "neighborhood vitality" and help some people find jobs/
Libraries have in important role during emergencies and disasters, where they may be used as shelters, provide space to charge phones and access the Internet, and serve as locations for the distribution of aid, especially financial aid, which requires access to computers and the Internet.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency recognizes libraries as providing essential community service during times of disaster. Libraries have also had in increasingly important economic role during the recession, providing job search assistance, computer skills training and resume help to patrons.
Organization:
The establishment or development of a public library involves creating a legal authorization and governing structure, building a collection of books and media, as well as securing reliable funding sources, especially government sources.
Most public libraries are small, serving a population of under 25,000, and are (or were) established in response to specific local needs.
In A Library Primer, John Cotton Dana's 1899 work on the establishment and management of libraries in the United States, Dana wrote:
"Each community has different needs, and begins its library under different conditions.
Consider then, whether you need most a library devoted chiefly to the work of helping the schools, or one to be used mainly for reference, or one that shall run largely to periodicals and be not much more than a reading room, or one particularly attractive to girls and women, or one that shall not be much more than a cheerful resting-place, attractive enough to draw man and boy from street corner and saloon.
Decide this question early, that all effort may be concentrated to one end, and that your young institution may suit the community in which it is to grow, and from which it is to gain its strength."
After being established and funded through a resolution, public referendum or similar legal process, the library is usually managed by a board of directors, library council or other local authority. A librarian is designated as the library director or library manager.
In small municipalities, city or county government may serve as the library board and there may be only one librarian involved in the management and direction of the library. Library staff who are not involved in management are known in the United States and some other English-speaking countries as "library paraprofessionals" or "library support staff."
They may or may not have formal education in library and information science. Support staff have important roles in library collection development, cataloging, technical support, and the process of preparing books for borrowing.
All of these tasks may be referred to as technical services, whether or not they involve information technology. While the library's governing board has ultimate authority to establish policy, many other organizations may participate in library management or library fundraising, including civic and voluntary associations, women's clubs, Friends of the Library groups, and groups established to advise the library on the purchase and retention of books.
State and national governments may also have a role in the establishment and organization of public libraries. Many governments operate their own large libraries for public and legislative use (e.g., state libraries, the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, etc.).
These governments can also influence local libraries by reserving formal recognition or funding for libraries that meet specific requirements. Finally, associations of library and information professionals, such as the American Library Association (ALA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) help establish norms and standard procedures, secure funding, advocate at the state or national level and certify library schools or information schools.
Funding:
Public libraries are funded through a wide combination of sources, the most significant which is usually local or municipal funding. The citizens who use a local library support it via the city or county government, or through a special-purpose district, which is a local government body that has independent leadership and may levy its own taxes. Local funding may be supplemented by other government funding.
For example, in the United States, the state and federal governments provide supplementary funding for public libraries through state aid programs, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and E-Rate. State and local governments may also offer cities and counties large grants for library construction or renovation.
Private philanthropy has also had a significant role in the expansion and transformation of library services, and, like other educational institutions, some libraries may be partially funded by an endowment. Some proactive librarians have devised alliances with patron and civic groups to supplement their financial situations. Library "friends" groups, activist boards, and well organized book sales also supplement government funding.
Public funding has always been an important part of the definition of a public library. However, with local governments facing financial pressures due to the Great Recession, some libraries have explored ways supplement public funding. Cafes, bakeries, bookstores, gift shops and similar commercial endeavors are common features of new and urban libraries.
For example, the Boston Public Library has two restaurants and an online store which features reproductions of photographs and artwork. Pressure on funding has also led to closer partnerships between libraries, and between libraries and for-profit ventures, in order to sustain the library as a public space while providing business opportunities to the community.
While still fairly uncommon, public-private partnerships and "mixed-use" or "dual-use" libraries, which provide services to the public and one or more student populations, are occasionally explored as alternatives.
Jackson County, Oregon (US), closed its entire 15-branch public library system for six months in 2007, reopening with under a public-private partnership and a reduced schedule. Small fees, such as library fines or printing fees, may also offset the cost of providing library services, though fines and fees do not usually have a significant role in library funding.
Although usage of public libraries has increased significantly in recent decades, libraries are under intense financial pressure and scrutiny. The American Library Association says media reports it has compiled in 2004 showed some $162 million in funding cuts to libraries nationwide.
In 2009, 40% of states reported a decline in state aid for libraries. In 2012, Great Britain lost over 200 libraries to budget cuts, part of a general trend of fiscal austerity in Europe.
However, there are signs of stabilization in library funding. As of 2012, funding for construction and renovation of new libraries remains steady. Cities' plans to close public libraries are frequently cancelled or scaled back. In 2012, voters in 13 U.S. states approved new funding for library construction or operations. And in the UK, the new Library of Birmingham, opened in 2013, is the largest cultural space in Europe.
Survey data suggests the public values free public libraries. A Public Agenda survey in 2006 reported 84% of the public said maintaining free library services should be a top priority for their local library. Public libraries received higher ratings for effectiveness than other local services such as parks and police.
But the survey also found the public was mostly unaware of financial difficulties facing their libraries. In various cost-benefit studies libraries continue to provide returns on the taxpayer dollar far higher than other municipal spending.
A 2008 survey discusses comprehensively the prospects for increased funding in the United States, saying in conclusion "There is sufficient, but latent, support for increased library funding among the voting population." A 2013 Pew Research Center survey reported that 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would affect their community, with 63% saying it would have a "major" impact.
See also:
There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries:
- The first is that they are generally supported by taxes (usually local, though any level of government can and may contribute);
- they are governed by a board to serve the public interest;
- they are open to all, and every community member can access the collection;
- they are entirely voluntary in that no one is ever forced to use the services provided;
- and they provide basic services without charge.
Public libraries exist in many countries across the world and are often considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Public libraries are distinct from research libraries, school libraries, and other special libraries in that their mandate is to serve the general public's information needs rather than the needs of a particular school, institution, or research population.
Public libraries also provide free services such as preschool story times to encourage early literacy, quiet study and work areas for students and professionals, or book clubs to encourage appreciation of literature in adults. Public libraries typically allow users to borrow books and other materials, i.e., take off the premises temporarily; they also have non-circulating reference collections and provide computer and Internet access to patrons.
The culmination of centuries of advances in the printing press, moveable type, paper, ink, publishing, and distribution, combined with an ever-growing information-oriented middle class, increased commercial activity and consumption, new radical ideas, massive population growth and higher literacy rates forged the public library into the form that it is today.
Public access to books is not new. Romans made scrolls in dry rooms available to patrons of the baths, and tried with some success to establish libraries within the empire.
In the middle of the 19th century, the push for truly public libraries, paid for by taxes and run by the state gained force. Matthew Battles states that:
It was in these years of class conflict and economic terror that the public library movement swept through Britain, as the nation's progressive elite recognized that the light of cultural and intellectual energy was lacking in the lives of commoners.
Public libraries were often started with a donation, or were bequeathed to parishes, churches, schools or towns. These social and institutional libraries formed the base of many academic and public library collections of today.
The establishment of circulating libraries in the 18th century, by booksellers and publishers provided a means of gaining profit and creating social centers within the community. The circulating libraries not only provided a place to sell books, but also a place to lend books for a price. These circulating libraries provided a variety of materials including the increasingly popular novels.
Although the circulating libraries filled an important role in society, members of the middle and upper classes often looked down upon these libraries that regularly sold material from their collections and provided materials that were less sophisticated.
Circulating libraries also charged a subscription fee, however the fees were set to entice their patrons, providing subscriptions on a yearly, quarterly or monthly basis, without expecting the subscribers to purchase a share in the circulating library. This helped patrons who could not afford to buy books, to be able to borrow books to read, and then return. This also created a more popular demand, as book fees were growing, and more books were being copied.
Circulating libraries were very popular, the first one was located in 1725, in Edinbrough, Scotland by Allan Ramsay.
Circulating libraries were not exclusively lending institutions and often provided a place for other forms of commercial activity, which may or may not be related to print. This was necessary because the circulating libraries did not generate enough funds through subscription fees collected from its borrowers.
As a commerce venture, it was important to consider the contributing factors such as other goods or services available to the subscribers.
Services:
The main task of public libraries is to provide the public with access to books and periodicals. The American Library Association (ALA), addresses this role of libraries as part of "access to information" and "equity of access"; part of the profession's ethical commitment that "no one should be denied information because he or she cannot afford the cost of a book or periodical, have access to the internet or information in any of its various formats."
Libraries typically offer access to thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of books, the majority of which are available for borrowing by anyone with the appropriate library card.
A library's selection of books is called its collection, and usually includes a range of popular fiction, classics, nonfiction and reference works, books of public interest or under public discussion, and subscriptions to popular newspapers and magazines. Most libraries offer quiet space for reading, known as reading rooms.
Borrowers may also take books home, as long as they return them at a certain time and in good condition. If a borrowed book is returned late, the library may charge a small library fine, though some libraries have eliminated fines in recent years.
About two-thirds of libraries now provide access to e-books and digital or digitized periodicals as well as printed books. Many libraries offer assistance to borrowers, to select books, through specialist Readers' Advisory Services librarians.
Public libraries also provide books and other materials for children. These items are often housed in a special section known as a children's library and attended to by a specialized children's librarian. Child oriented websites with on-line educational games and programs specifically designed for younger library users are becoming increasingly popular. Services may be provided for other groups, such as large print or Braille materials, Books on tape, young adult literature and other materials for teenagers, or materials in other than the national language (in foreign languages).
Libraries also lend books to each other, a practice known as inter-library loan. Inter-library loan allows libraries to provide patrons access to the collections of other libraries, especially rare, infrequently used, specialized and/or out-of-print books. Libraries within the same system, such as a county system, may lend their books to each other, or libraries in different states may even use an inter-library loan system.
The selection, purchase and cataloging of books for a collection; the care, repair, and weeding of books; the organization of books in the library; readers' advisory; and the management of membership, borrowing and lending are typical tasks for a public librarian, an information professional with graduate-level education or experience in library and information science.
In the United States, libraries are responsible for supporting the First Amendment and how it relates to their facilities through policies such as the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights. The right to freedom of speech and information is significant to public libraries; one way of upholding this doctrine is to protect the privacy of all patrons that belong to a library.
The concept of confidentiality is important because the First Amendment may be violated if a patron's information could possibly be shared. Patrons may not feel free to check out certain materials for fear it would later be revealed. Members of society need to be reassured that even if they borrow controversial or embarrassing materials, their privacy will be upheld.
A policy stating a library's view on privacy should be created and displayed where patrons can see when they enter the building. Some libraries require staff to talk about confidentiality or direct the patron to literature on the subject when creating a new library card for patrons
Digital Engagement:
Part of the public library mission has become attempting to help bridge the digital divide. As more books, information resources, and government services are being provided online (see e-commerce and e-government), public libraries increasingly provide access to the Internet and public computers for users who otherwise would not be able to connect to these services.
Public Libraries can also provide community spaces to encourage the general population to improve their digital skills through Library Coding Clubs and Library makerspace.
Almost all public libraries now house a computer lab. Internationally, public libraries offer information and communication technology (ICT) services, giving "access to information and knowledge" the "highest priority".
While different countries and areas of the world have their own requirements, general services offered include free connection to the Internet, training in using the Internet, and relevant content in appropriate languages. In addition to typical public library financing, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business fund services that assist public libraries in combating the digital divide.
In addition to access, many public libraries offer training and support to computer users. Once access has been achieved, there remains a large gap in people's online abilities and skills. For many communities, the public library is the only agency offering free computer classes, information technology learning and an affordable, interactive way to build digital skills.
As of 2012:
- 91% of libraries offer free wireless Internet to their patrons;
- 76% offer e-books for borrowing;
- and 90% offer formal or informal technology training.
A significant service provided by public libraries is assisting people with e-government access and use of federal, state and local government information, forms and services.
In 2006, 73% percent of library branches reported that they are the only local provider of free public computer and Internet access. A 2008 study found that "100 percent of rural, high poverty outlets provide public Internet access. Access to computers and the Internet is now nearly as important to library patrons as access to books.
Classroom and Meeting Space:
Public libraries have a long history of functioning as community centers or public spaces for reading, study and formal and informal public meetings.
In 1898, Andrew Carnegie, a prominent library philanthropist, built a library in Homestead, Pennsylvania, where his main steel mills were located:
- Besides a book collection, it included a bowling alley, an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts and other athletic facilities, a music hall, and numerous meeting rooms for local organizations.
- It sponsored highly successful semi-pro football and baseball teams.
Even before the development of the modern public library, subscription libraries were often used as clubs or gathering places. They served as much for social gossip and the meeting of friends, as coffee shops do today. Throughout history, public libraries were touted as alternatives to dance halls or gentleman's clubs, and frequently built, organized and supported because of their equalizing and civilizing influence.
Today, in-person and on-line programs for reader development, language learning, homework help, free lectures and cultural performances, and other community service programs are common offerings.
The library story time, in which books are read aloud to children and infants, is a cultural touchstone. Most public libraries offer frequent story times, often daily or even several times a day for different age groups. Some libraries have begun offering sensory story times for children and adults on the autism spectrum. Sensory story times give patrons "more ways to process information," especially considering people on the autism spectrum are concrete thinkers and/or might have sensory issues to fluorescent lightning or ambient noise other patrons might not notice.
One of the most popular programs offered in public libraries is "summer reading" for children, families, and adults. Summer reading usually includes a list of books to read during summer holidays, as well as performances, book discussions or other celebrations of reading, culture and the humanities.
Many libraries offer classes to the community such as tech clinics where patrons can bring in laptops and electronic devices and receive one on one attention in solving their problems and learning how to use them.
Libraries may also offer free or inexpensive meeting space for community organizations and educational and entrepreneurial activity. The addition of makerspaces in libraries, beginning with the Fayetteville Free Library in 2011, offers the potential for new roles for public spaces and public libraries. Attendance at library programs increased by 22% between 2004 and 2008.
Programming:
While in the past libraries were merely buildings to house their collections, most now utilize their space to offer programs or clubs regularly. Although some libraries will have similar programs with different names, such as book club, writing club or computer programs, most programs will differ based on the specific library and the community they serve.
New studies have shown that librarians must research what their specific community needs, “because communities differ, however, the ways libraries implement these services differ as well. The [example of service response] offered at one library may vary significantly from [the same example] offered by another library. The differences are perfectly appropriate if they result from a tailoring of services to address local needs.”
Websites like Pinterest have numerous ideas for creating programs for local patrons, while the website Instructables has DIY tutorials, complete with pictures, which is helpful for libraries on a budget. "Programs in the humanities and the arts that encourage people to think and talk about ethics and values, history, art, poetry, and other cultures are integral to the library’s mission."
Adult Programs:
- The New York Public Library has over 93,000 programs offered to its patrons every year at its 87 different branches. Some adult programs include Excel classes, writing club, adult coloring club, chess club, knitting club, and a jewelry making class.
- The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library has an adult coloring club, a crochet/knitting/sewing club, a gardening club, a bead and string class, and a bilingual computer class.
- The Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library System has 31 branches that offer the usual book clubs and writing clubs for adults. However, they also offer an early morning walking club, chair yoga classes, beginning computer classes, genealogy classes, walk-in tech help, and a coffee and French talk class.
Teen Programs:
- The Orange County Library System offers numerous teen activities such as a Maker/DIY program, Audio Equipment Training, Sewing classes, Knitting classes, ESL classes, Chess club, and more.
- The Springfield Greene County Library has writing and book clubs as well as a tech training class, board game nights, movie nights, craft classes, and a My Little Pony club.
- The Pikes Peak Library District has math tutors for their teen patrons. They also offer writing and book clubs, a Dungeons and Dragons club, a coding lab, an anime club, guided meditation, and an occasional Super Smash Bros. Tournament.
Children's programs:
- The Belmont Public Library offers an array of children’s programs including story times for various age groups, concerts, music classes, puppet shows, a maker club, and sing-along Saturdays.
- The Saratoga Springs Public Library also has numerous story times as well as Yoga for children, parent/child workshops, Spanish workshops, a read-to-a-dog program, and a Kindness club.
- The Chelmsford Public Library has a plethora of story times for ages birth to preschool. They also offer baby yoga, stay and play time, toddler rhyme time, a dads and donuts day, and an annual Gingerbread Festival.
Diversity:
A significant goal in American libraries is to become more culturally diverse throughout the country. Public libraries are an equal access facility and want to make everyone feel welcome no matter the religion, race, ethnicity, sex, or financial status.
To accomplish this goal, libraries are striving to find ways in which to make both staff and the library programs they provide more culturally sensitive. A starting point for most libraries is to find out the demographics in which they are located. Once the library system learns more about the community they serve, they can start building a collection and programs around it.
Another suggestion from multiple experts says to hire staff that represents the society that the library is located in order to better relate and serve members of that society. By making culturally diverse programs, a library can be inviting to many members of the community.
A few ways libraries accomplish this goal are by providing programs which are inclusive to many different cultures such as having lectures or events in different languages, including celebrations and holidays that are diverse, and by inviting speakers and authors from different cultures to come and talk.
Research Assistance:
Librarians at most public libraries provide reference and research help to the general public. This can include assisting students in finding reliable sources for papers and presentations; helping the public find answers to questions or evidence in a debate; or providing resources related to a specific event or topic.
Reference assistance is usually provided through a reference interview which is usually conducted at a public reference desk but may also be conducted by telephone or online. Reference librarians may also help patrons develop an appropriate bibliography or works cited page for an academic paper.
Depending on the size of the library, there may be multiple reference desks that deal with different topics. Large public, academic or research libraries may employ librarians that are experts in specific topics or subjects. Often the children's section in a public library has its own reference desk. On the other hand, at a smaller library, circulation and reference may occur at the same desk.
The Internet has had a significant effect on the availability and delivery of reference services. Many reference works, such as the Encyclopædia Britannica, have moved entirely online, and the way people access and use these works has changed dramatically in recent decades.
The rise of search engines and crowd-sourced resources such as Wikipedia have transformed the reference environment. In addition to the traditional reference interview, reference librarians have an increasing role in providing access to digitized reference works (including the selection and purchase of databases not available to the general public) and ensuring that references are reliable and presented in an academically acceptable manner.
Librarians also have a role in teaching information literacy, so that patrons can find, understand and use information and finding aids like search engines, databases and library catalogs.
Public libraries may answer millions of reference questions every year. For example, the Boston Public Library answers more than one million reference questions annually.
Reference Collections:
See also: Archives and Special collections
In addition to their circulating collection, public libraries usually offer a collection of reference books, such encyclopedias, dictionaries, phone books and unique or expensive academic works. These books may not be available for borrowing, except under special circumstances.
Reference books that are frequently used, such as phone books, may be housed in a special section called "ready reference."
Some libraries also keep historical documents relevant to their particular town, and serve as a resource for historians in some instances. For example, the Queens Public Library kept letters written by unrecognized Tiffany lamp designer Clara Driscoll, and the letters remained in the library until a curator discovered them.
Some libraries may also serve as archives or government depositories, preserving historic newspapers, property records or government documents. Collections of unique or historical works are sometimes referred to as special collections; except in rare cases, these items are reference items, and patrons must use them inside the library under the supervision or guidance of a librarian.
Local libraries' special collections may be of particular interest to people researching their family history. Libraries that are focused on collecting works related to particular families are genealogical libraries and may be housed in the same building as a public library.
Many libraries—especially large, urban libraries—have large collections of photographs, digital images, rare and fragile books, artifacts and manuscripts available for public viewing and use. Digitization and digital preservation of these works is an ongoing effort, usually funded by grants or philanthropy.
In 2005, the New York Public Library offered the "NYPL Digital Gallery" which made a collection of 275,000 images viewable over the web; while most of the contents are in the public domain, some images are still subject to copyright rules.
Limited funding, copyright restrictions, a lack of expertise or poor provenance are barriers to the large-scale digitization of libraries' special collections.
Other Services:
Depending on a community's desires and needs, public libraries may offer many other resources and services to the public. In addition to print books and periodicals, most public libraries today have a wide array of other media including audiobooks, e-books, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs.
In 2015, certain libraries started to stock general materials for borrowing, such as pots, pans, sewing machines, and similar household items in order to appeal to a larger population.
Collections of books and academic research related to the local town or region are common, along with collections of works by local authors. Libraries' storage space and lending systems may be used to lend a wide range of materials, including works of art, cake pans, seeds, tools and musical instruments. Similar to museums and other cultural institutions, libraries may also host exhibits or exhibitions.
As more government services move online, libraries and librarians have a role in providing access to online forms and assistance with filling them out. For example, in 2013, American public libraries were promoted as a way for people to access online health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
In rural areas, the local public library may have a bookmobile service, consisting of one or more buses or pack animals (such as burros, camels, donkey, or elephants) furnished as small public libraries, some equipped with Internet access points or computer labs, and serving the countryside according to a regular schedule.
In communities that are extremely isolated or that have poor digital infrastructure, libraries may provide the only access to online education, telemedicine, or telework. Libraries also partner with schools and community organizations to promote literacy and learning.
24-hour library access has been piloted in certain public libraries in North America, such as the Pioneer Library System's Norman Public Library in Oklahoma and Ottawa Public Library in Ontario. Such access may involve anywhere from a "library vending machine", in which print books are mechanically vended to (and dispensed from) patrons, to reduced staff during the night and early morning hours.
Libraries promote cultural awareness; in Newark, New Jersey, the public library celebrated black history with exhibits and programs. One account suggested libraries were essential to "economic competitiveness" as well as "neighborhood vitality" and help some people find jobs/
Libraries have in important role during emergencies and disasters, where they may be used as shelters, provide space to charge phones and access the Internet, and serve as locations for the distribution of aid, especially financial aid, which requires access to computers and the Internet.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency recognizes libraries as providing essential community service during times of disaster. Libraries have also had in increasingly important economic role during the recession, providing job search assistance, computer skills training and resume help to patrons.
Organization:
The establishment or development of a public library involves creating a legal authorization and governing structure, building a collection of books and media, as well as securing reliable funding sources, especially government sources.
Most public libraries are small, serving a population of under 25,000, and are (or were) established in response to specific local needs.
In A Library Primer, John Cotton Dana's 1899 work on the establishment and management of libraries in the United States, Dana wrote:
"Each community has different needs, and begins its library under different conditions.
Consider then, whether you need most a library devoted chiefly to the work of helping the schools, or one to be used mainly for reference, or one that shall run largely to periodicals and be not much more than a reading room, or one particularly attractive to girls and women, or one that shall not be much more than a cheerful resting-place, attractive enough to draw man and boy from street corner and saloon.
Decide this question early, that all effort may be concentrated to one end, and that your young institution may suit the community in which it is to grow, and from which it is to gain its strength."
After being established and funded through a resolution, public referendum or similar legal process, the library is usually managed by a board of directors, library council or other local authority. A librarian is designated as the library director or library manager.
In small municipalities, city or county government may serve as the library board and there may be only one librarian involved in the management and direction of the library. Library staff who are not involved in management are known in the United States and some other English-speaking countries as "library paraprofessionals" or "library support staff."
They may or may not have formal education in library and information science. Support staff have important roles in library collection development, cataloging, technical support, and the process of preparing books for borrowing.
All of these tasks may be referred to as technical services, whether or not they involve information technology. While the library's governing board has ultimate authority to establish policy, many other organizations may participate in library management or library fundraising, including civic and voluntary associations, women's clubs, Friends of the Library groups, and groups established to advise the library on the purchase and retention of books.
State and national governments may also have a role in the establishment and organization of public libraries. Many governments operate their own large libraries for public and legislative use (e.g., state libraries, the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, etc.).
These governments can also influence local libraries by reserving formal recognition or funding for libraries that meet specific requirements. Finally, associations of library and information professionals, such as the American Library Association (ALA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) help establish norms and standard procedures, secure funding, advocate at the state or national level and certify library schools or information schools.
Funding:
Public libraries are funded through a wide combination of sources, the most significant which is usually local or municipal funding. The citizens who use a local library support it via the city or county government, or through a special-purpose district, which is a local government body that has independent leadership and may levy its own taxes. Local funding may be supplemented by other government funding.
For example, in the United States, the state and federal governments provide supplementary funding for public libraries through state aid programs, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and E-Rate. State and local governments may also offer cities and counties large grants for library construction or renovation.
Private philanthropy has also had a significant role in the expansion and transformation of library services, and, like other educational institutions, some libraries may be partially funded by an endowment. Some proactive librarians have devised alliances with patron and civic groups to supplement their financial situations. Library "friends" groups, activist boards, and well organized book sales also supplement government funding.
Public funding has always been an important part of the definition of a public library. However, with local governments facing financial pressures due to the Great Recession, some libraries have explored ways supplement public funding. Cafes, bakeries, bookstores, gift shops and similar commercial endeavors are common features of new and urban libraries.
For example, the Boston Public Library has two restaurants and an online store which features reproductions of photographs and artwork. Pressure on funding has also led to closer partnerships between libraries, and between libraries and for-profit ventures, in order to sustain the library as a public space while providing business opportunities to the community.
While still fairly uncommon, public-private partnerships and "mixed-use" or "dual-use" libraries, which provide services to the public and one or more student populations, are occasionally explored as alternatives.
Jackson County, Oregon (US), closed its entire 15-branch public library system for six months in 2007, reopening with under a public-private partnership and a reduced schedule. Small fees, such as library fines or printing fees, may also offset the cost of providing library services, though fines and fees do not usually have a significant role in library funding.
Although usage of public libraries has increased significantly in recent decades, libraries are under intense financial pressure and scrutiny. The American Library Association says media reports it has compiled in 2004 showed some $162 million in funding cuts to libraries nationwide.
In 2009, 40% of states reported a decline in state aid for libraries. In 2012, Great Britain lost over 200 libraries to budget cuts, part of a general trend of fiscal austerity in Europe.
However, there are signs of stabilization in library funding. As of 2012, funding for construction and renovation of new libraries remains steady. Cities' plans to close public libraries are frequently cancelled or scaled back. In 2012, voters in 13 U.S. states approved new funding for library construction or operations. And in the UK, the new Library of Birmingham, opened in 2013, is the largest cultural space in Europe.
Survey data suggests the public values free public libraries. A Public Agenda survey in 2006 reported 84% of the public said maintaining free library services should be a top priority for their local library. Public libraries received higher ratings for effectiveness than other local services such as parks and police.
But the survey also found the public was mostly unaware of financial difficulties facing their libraries. In various cost-benefit studies libraries continue to provide returns on the taxpayer dollar far higher than other municipal spending.
A 2008 survey discusses comprehensively the prospects for increased funding in the United States, saying in conclusion "There is sufficient, but latent, support for increased library funding among the voting population." A 2013 Pew Research Center survey reported that 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would affect their community, with 63% saying it would have a "major" impact.
See also:
- Public libraries in North America
- Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association
- Stimulating Growth and Renewal of Public Libraries: The Natural Life Cycle as Framework
- "How did public libraries get started?" from The Straight Dope
- Seminar in Public Libraries
Harper Lee, and her Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", including the 1962 Movie of the Same Name
- YouTube Video of Atticus's Closing Statement - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- YouTube Video: All Men Are Created Equal - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- YouTube Video :Jeff Daniels Stars In ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ On Broadway | TODAY
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature.
Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. Additionally, Lee received numerous honorary degrees, though she declined to speak on those occasions.
Lee was also known for assisting her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The novel deals with the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
The novel was inspired by racist attitudes in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
Another novel, Go Set a Watchman, was written in the mid-1950s and published in July 2015 as a "sequel", though it was later confirmed to be To Kill a Mockingbird's first draft.
Click here for more about Harper Lee.
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The 1960 Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. Instantly successful, widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States, it has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize.
The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was 10 years old.
The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. Historian, J. Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."
As a Southern Gothic and Bildungsroman novel, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Scholars have noted that Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South.
The book is widely taught in schools in the United States with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets.
Reaction to the novel varied widely upon publication. Despite the number of copies sold and its widespread use in education, literary analysis of it is sparse. Author Mary McDonough Murphy, who collected individual impressions of To Kill a Mockingbird by several authors and public figures, calls the book "an astonishing phenomenon".
In 2006, British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should read before they die". It was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1962 by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote. Since 1990, a play based on the novel has been performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown.
To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee's only published book until Go Set a Watchman, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, was published on July 14, 2015. Lee continued to respond to her work's impact until her death in February 2016, although she had refused any personal publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.
Click here for more about the Harper Lee Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird".
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To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 Movie:
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name (above). It stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. To Kill a Mockingbird marked the film debuts of Robert Duvall, William Windom, and Alice Ghostley.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, earning more than six times its budget.
The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture.
In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century. In 2007, the film ranked twenty-fifth on the AFI's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American movies of all time.
In 2005, the British Film Institute included it in their list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. The film was restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2012, as part of the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures.
Plot:
The film's young protagonists, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch and her brother Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch, live in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the early 1930s. They are innocent children who enjoy their days happily playing games with each other. They spy on Arthur "Boo" Radley, a neighbor who has not left his home for many years.
Their widowed father, Atticus, is a town lawyer and has strong beliefs that all people are to be treated fairly, to turn the other cheek, and to stand for what you believe. He also allows his children to call him by his first name.
Early in the film, the children see their father accept hickory nuts, and other produce, from Mr. Cunningham for legal work because the client has no money. Through their father's work as a lawyer, Scout and Jem begin to learn of the racism and evil in their town, aggravated by poverty; they mature quickly as they are exposed to it.
The local judge appoints Atticus to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, against an accusation of rape of a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Atticus accepts the case. Jem and Scout experience schoolyard taunts for their father's decision.
Later, as Atticus is sitting in front of the local jail to safeguard Robinson, a lynch mob arrives, which includes Mr. Cunningham. Scout, Jem and their friend, Dill, interrupt the confrontation. Scout, unaware of the mob's purpose, recognizes Cunningham as the man who paid her father in hickory nuts and tells him to say hello to his son, who is her schoolmate. Cunningham becomes embarrassed and the mob disperses.
At the trial, it is undisputed that Tom came to Mayella's home at her request to help with the chopping up of a chifforobe, and that Mayella showed signs of having been beaten around that time. Among Atticus' chief arguments is that Tom has a crippled left arm, yet the supposed rapist would have had to make extensive use of his left hand in assaulting Mayella before raping her.
Atticus then points out that Mayella's father, Bob Ewell, is left handed, implying that he – rather than Tom – was the one who beat Mayella. Atticus also states that the girl had not been examined by a doctor to check for signs of rape after the supposed assault. In his closing argument Atticus asks the all-white male jury to cast aside their prejudices and instead focus on Tom's obvious innocence.
In taking the stand in his own defense, Tom denies he attacked Mayella, but states she kissed him. He testifies he voluntarily assisted Mayella because "I felt sorry for her because…".
Although Tom does not finish his sentence, the prosecutor hammers home the point that he was a black man feeling sorry for a white woman. In a town where whites are viewed as superior to blacks, Tom's sympathy for Mayella dooms his case, and he is found guilty.
As Atticus leaves the courtroom, the black spectators in the balcony rise to their feet as a sign of respect and appreciation. Reverend Sykes says to Scout, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." When Atticus arrives home, Sheriff Heck Tate tells him that Tom has been killed by a deputy during his transfer to prison.
According to this deputy, Tom was trying to escape, "running like a crazy man" before he was shot. Atticus and Jem go to the Robinson family home to inform them of Tom's death. Bob Ewell, Mayella's father, appears and spits in Atticus' face while Jem waits in the car. Atticus wipes his face and leaves.
Autumn arrives, and Scout and Jem attend a nighttime Halloween pageant at their school. Scout wears a large hard-shelled ham costume, portraying one of Maycomb county's products. At some point during the pageant, Scout's dress and shoes are misplaced. She is forced to walk home without shoes, wearing her ham costume.
While cutting through the woods, Scout and Jem are attacked by an unidentified man who has been following them. Scout's costume, like an awkward suit of armor, protects her from the attack but restricts her movement and severely restricts her vision. Jem is knocked unconscious and Scout escapes unharmed in a brief but violent struggle.
Their attacker is thwarted and overcome by another unidentified man. Scout escapes her costume in time to see the second man carrying Jem to their home. Scout follows the stranger inside and runs into the arms of a concerned Atticus. Doc Reynolds comes over and treats the broken arm of an unconscious Jem.
When Sheriff Tate asks Scout what happened, she sees a man standing quietly in the corner behind the door of Jem's room. Atticus formally introduces Scout to Arthur Radley, whom she has known as Boo, the man who came to the aid of Jem and Scout in the woods. It is revealed that Boo had overpowered Bob Ewell before carrying Jem home.
The sheriff reports that Ewell was discovered dead at the scene of the attack with a knife in his ribs. Atticus assumes that Jem killed Ewell in self-defense. Sheriff Tate, however, believes that Boo killed Ewell in defense of the children, and he tells Atticus that to drag the shy and reserved Boo into the spotlight for his heroism would be "a sin".
To protect Boo, Sheriff Tate suggests that Ewell "fell on his knife". Scout draws a startlingly precocious analogy, likening unwelcome public attention to Boo to the killing of a mockingbird.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the 1962 Film "To Kill a Mockingbird":
Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. Additionally, Lee received numerous honorary degrees, though she declined to speak on those occasions.
Lee was also known for assisting her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The novel deals with the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
The novel was inspired by racist attitudes in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
Another novel, Go Set a Watchman, was written in the mid-1950s and published in July 2015 as a "sequel", though it was later confirmed to be To Kill a Mockingbird's first draft.
Click here for more about Harper Lee.
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The 1960 Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. Instantly successful, widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States, it has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize.
The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was 10 years old.
The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. Historian, J. Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."
As a Southern Gothic and Bildungsroman novel, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Scholars have noted that Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South.
The book is widely taught in schools in the United States with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets.
Reaction to the novel varied widely upon publication. Despite the number of copies sold and its widespread use in education, literary analysis of it is sparse. Author Mary McDonough Murphy, who collected individual impressions of To Kill a Mockingbird by several authors and public figures, calls the book "an astonishing phenomenon".
In 2006, British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should read before they die". It was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1962 by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote. Since 1990, a play based on the novel has been performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown.
To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee's only published book until Go Set a Watchman, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, was published on July 14, 2015. Lee continued to respond to her work's impact until her death in February 2016, although she had refused any personal publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.
Click here for more about the Harper Lee Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird".
___________________________________________________________________________
To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 Movie:
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name (above). It stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. To Kill a Mockingbird marked the film debuts of Robert Duvall, William Windom, and Alice Ghostley.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, earning more than six times its budget.
The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture.
In 1995, the film was listed in the National Film Registry. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the greatest movie hero of the 20th century. In 2007, the film ranked twenty-fifth on the AFI's 10th anniversary list of the greatest American movies of all time.
In 2005, the British Film Institute included it in their list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. The film was restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2012, as part of the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures.
Plot:
The film's young protagonists, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch and her brother Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch, live in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the early 1930s. They are innocent children who enjoy their days happily playing games with each other. They spy on Arthur "Boo" Radley, a neighbor who has not left his home for many years.
Their widowed father, Atticus, is a town lawyer and has strong beliefs that all people are to be treated fairly, to turn the other cheek, and to stand for what you believe. He also allows his children to call him by his first name.
Early in the film, the children see their father accept hickory nuts, and other produce, from Mr. Cunningham for legal work because the client has no money. Through their father's work as a lawyer, Scout and Jem begin to learn of the racism and evil in their town, aggravated by poverty; they mature quickly as they are exposed to it.
The local judge appoints Atticus to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, against an accusation of rape of a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Atticus accepts the case. Jem and Scout experience schoolyard taunts for their father's decision.
Later, as Atticus is sitting in front of the local jail to safeguard Robinson, a lynch mob arrives, which includes Mr. Cunningham. Scout, Jem and their friend, Dill, interrupt the confrontation. Scout, unaware of the mob's purpose, recognizes Cunningham as the man who paid her father in hickory nuts and tells him to say hello to his son, who is her schoolmate. Cunningham becomes embarrassed and the mob disperses.
At the trial, it is undisputed that Tom came to Mayella's home at her request to help with the chopping up of a chifforobe, and that Mayella showed signs of having been beaten around that time. Among Atticus' chief arguments is that Tom has a crippled left arm, yet the supposed rapist would have had to make extensive use of his left hand in assaulting Mayella before raping her.
Atticus then points out that Mayella's father, Bob Ewell, is left handed, implying that he – rather than Tom – was the one who beat Mayella. Atticus also states that the girl had not been examined by a doctor to check for signs of rape after the supposed assault. In his closing argument Atticus asks the all-white male jury to cast aside their prejudices and instead focus on Tom's obvious innocence.
In taking the stand in his own defense, Tom denies he attacked Mayella, but states she kissed him. He testifies he voluntarily assisted Mayella because "I felt sorry for her because…".
Although Tom does not finish his sentence, the prosecutor hammers home the point that he was a black man feeling sorry for a white woman. In a town where whites are viewed as superior to blacks, Tom's sympathy for Mayella dooms his case, and he is found guilty.
As Atticus leaves the courtroom, the black spectators in the balcony rise to their feet as a sign of respect and appreciation. Reverend Sykes says to Scout, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." When Atticus arrives home, Sheriff Heck Tate tells him that Tom has been killed by a deputy during his transfer to prison.
According to this deputy, Tom was trying to escape, "running like a crazy man" before he was shot. Atticus and Jem go to the Robinson family home to inform them of Tom's death. Bob Ewell, Mayella's father, appears and spits in Atticus' face while Jem waits in the car. Atticus wipes his face and leaves.
Autumn arrives, and Scout and Jem attend a nighttime Halloween pageant at their school. Scout wears a large hard-shelled ham costume, portraying one of Maycomb county's products. At some point during the pageant, Scout's dress and shoes are misplaced. She is forced to walk home without shoes, wearing her ham costume.
While cutting through the woods, Scout and Jem are attacked by an unidentified man who has been following them. Scout's costume, like an awkward suit of armor, protects her from the attack but restricts her movement and severely restricts her vision. Jem is knocked unconscious and Scout escapes unharmed in a brief but violent struggle.
Their attacker is thwarted and overcome by another unidentified man. Scout escapes her costume in time to see the second man carrying Jem to their home. Scout follows the stranger inside and runs into the arms of a concerned Atticus. Doc Reynolds comes over and treats the broken arm of an unconscious Jem.
When Sheriff Tate asks Scout what happened, she sees a man standing quietly in the corner behind the door of Jem's room. Atticus formally introduces Scout to Arthur Radley, whom she has known as Boo, the man who came to the aid of Jem and Scout in the woods. It is revealed that Boo had overpowered Bob Ewell before carrying Jem home.
The sheriff reports that Ewell was discovered dead at the scene of the attack with a knife in his ribs. Atticus assumes that Jem killed Ewell in self-defense. Sheriff Tate, however, believes that Boo killed Ewell in defense of the children, and he tells Atticus that to drag the shy and reserved Boo into the spotlight for his heroism would be "a sin".
To protect Boo, Sheriff Tate suggests that Ewell "fell on his knife". Scout draws a startlingly precocious analogy, likening unwelcome public attention to Boo to the killing of a mockingbird.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the 1962 Film "To Kill a Mockingbird":
- Cast
- Production
- Critical response
- Awards and honors
- Music
- See also
- La Joven (The Young One), the 1960 film
- Trial film
- White savior narrative in film
- To Kill a Mockingbird on IMDb
- To Kill a Mockingbird at the TCM Movie Database
- To Kill a Mockingbird at Box Office Mojo
- To Kill a Mockingbird at Rotten Tomatoes
- To Kill a Mockingbird at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Atticus Finch's closing argument in text and audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
- To Kill A Mockingbird location and production notes