Mental Floss: The Curious Reader: Facts About Famous Authors and Novels | Book Lovers and Literary Interest | A Literary Miscellany of Novels & Novelists

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"With sumptuous, visually stimulating spreads, this book delivers on its promise– to unearth strange stories, bizarre facts, or unexpected details about the books on our shelves. Good for curious readers, whether they want to delve into authors and books they love, feel competent faking knowledge about books everyone else seems to have read, or just dip into and out of literary worlds" – Library Journal Readers rejoice! From Mental Floss, an online destination for more than a billion curious minds since its founding in 2001, comes the ultimate book for lovers of literature. From Americanah to War and Peace, from Chinua Achebe and Jane Austen to Jesmyn Ward and George R.R. Martin, learn surprising facts about the world’s most famous novels and novelists. The Curious Reader will delight bookworms everywhere. This literary compendium from Mental Floss reveals fascinating facts about the world’s most famous authors and their literary works. Readers will learn about George Orwell’s near-death experience during the writing of 1984; meet the real man who may have inspired Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy; discover which famous author kept her husband’s heart after he passed away; and learn about the influence of psychedelics on Dune. The Curious Reader also contains the most-loved book-related articles from 20 years of Mental Floss, including “Cat-Loving Writers,” “Famous Authors’ Unfinished Manuscripts,” “Literary Characters Based on Real People,” and “Books You Didn’t Know Were Self-Published.” This literary miscellany is certain to inspire book lovers, aspiring writers, students, and teachers alike to discover a diverse selection of curated literary works—leading to an expansion of their library! Cover CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1984: GEORGE ORWELL The Origins of Famous Authors’ Pen Names A Game of Thrones: GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Ways the Show is Different From the Novel A Prayer for Owen Meany: JOHN IRVING Writing Advice from Novelists Americanah: CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE As I Lay Dying: WILLIAM FAULKNER Books That Have Been Banned Beloved: TONI MORRISON Amazing Books by Black Writers Brave New World: ALDOUS HUXLEY Catch-22: JOSEPH HELLER Classic Novels Most Often Abandoned by Readers Crime and Punishment: FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY Famous Novels Penned in Less Than a Month Don Quixote: MIGUEL DE CERVANTES The Best-Selling Books In History Minus Religious Texts Dune: FRANK HERBERT Books That Have Won Both the Hugo and Nebula Awards Fahrenheit 451: RAY BRADBURY Famous Authors’ Favorite Books Frankenstein: MARY SHELLEY Her Dead Husband’s Heart Giovanni’s Room: JAMES BALDWIN House Made of Dawn: N. SCOTT MOMADAY Native American Novels You Shouldn’t Miss In Search of Lost Time: MARCEL PROUST What Writers Would Have Bought to a Literary Potluck Infinite Jest: DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Invisible Man: RALPH ELLISON Authors on Overcoming Writer’s Block Jane Eyre: CHARLOTTE BRONTË Cat-Loving Writers Kindred: OCTAVIA BUTLER Novelists Who Won the MacArthur “Genius Grant” Little Women: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT Ruthless Rejection Letters Lolita: VLADIMIR NABOKOV When Nabokov Met Dr. Seuss Lord of the Flies: WILLIAM GOLDING Harsh Early Reviews of Classic Novels Midnight’s Children: SALMAN RUSHDIE Famous Author Feuds Moby-Dick: HERMAN MELVILLE Inspirations for Five Famous Literary Animals Murder on the Orient Express: AGATHA CHRISTIE The Agatha Christie Book Linked to Real Murders My Brilliant Friend: ELENA FERRANTE Book Series to Binge Read Never Let Me Go: KAZUO ISHIGURO Nobel Prize-Winning Authors What’s the Difference Between a Novella and a Short Story? On the Road: JACK KEROUAC Young Kerouac’s Reading List One Hundred Years of Solitude: GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ Magical Realism Books You Need to Read Outlander: DIANA GABALDON Other Great Love Stories in Novels Pride and Prejudice: JANE AUSTEN The Real Mr. Darcy Pride and Prejudice’s Greatest Critics Salvage the Bones: JESMYN WARD National Book Award Winners Slaughterhouse-Five: KURT VONNEGUT Vonnegut Quotes Sons and Lovers: D.H. LAWRENCE Lawrence Quotes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: MARK TWAIN Things Twain Didn’t Really Say The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE The Alchemist: PAULO COELHO The Bell Jar: SYLVIA PLATH Important Novels About Mental Illness The Call of the Wild: JACK LONDON Homes of Famous Novelists You Can Visit The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. SALINGER Authors Who Hated Movie Versions of Their Books The Color Purple: ALICE WALKER Quotes From The Color Purple The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: STIEG LARSSON The God of Small Things: ARUNDHATI ROY Why Do We Love Old Book Smell? The Grapes of Wrath: JOHN STEINBECK Steinbeck’s Template for Dumping a Bad Friend The Great Gatsby: F. SCOTT FITZGERALD The Handmaid’s Tale: MARGARET ATWOOD Atwood Quotes The Haunting of Hill House: SHIRLEY JACKSON Women Horror Writers You Need to Read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: DOUGLAS ADAMS Literary Characters Based on Real People The Joy Luck Club: AMY TAN More Famous Authors’ Favorite Books The Jungle: UPTON SINCLAIR Reader-in-Chief Books You Didn’t Know Were Originally Self-Published The Kite Runner: KHALED HOSSEINI The Lord of the Rings: J.R.R. TOLKIEN Facts About the Elves of Middle Earth The Lowland: JHUMPA LAHIRI Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelists The Metamorphosis: FRANZ KAFKA Famous Authors’ Unfinished Manuscripts The Old Man and the Sea: ERNEST HEMINGWAY Hemingway’s Guide to Life in Quotes The Road: CORMAC MCCARTHY Punctuation Marks Disliked by Famous Authors The Stand: STEPHEN KING Books that Will (Probably) Never Be Printed Again Things Fall Apart: CHINUA ACHEBE To Kill a Mockingbird: HARPER LEE Amazing Things Lee Did After Mockingbird To the Lighthouse: VIRGINIA WOOLF Woolf Quotes Ulysses: JAMES JOYCE Literary Fart Jokes Uncle Tom’s Cabin: HARRIET BEECHER STOWE Waiting; HA JIN War and Peace: LEO TOLSTOY Terms Every Book Lover Should Know Our Favorite Novels that Didn’t Make the Cut ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z