Thursday, May 15, 2008

Is that a fact?

Are you someone who enjoys strange facts and trivia? Then perhaps this book is for you. Secret Lives of Great Authors by Robert Schnakenberg reveals to the reader some lesser known facts of some very well known writers. Did you know that:

  • After being given a bad review, Ernest Hemingway wrestled the critic to the floor

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda would sometimes show up at parties drunk and bark like wild dogs

  • Toni Morrison is a fan of the show Law & Order

  • Kurt Vonnegut once owned a Saab dealership

These are only a few of the interesting bits of trivia about some of the greatest writers, from Shakespeare and Lord Byron all the way to J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon, found in this entertaining book.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read that book. It's really funny. The illustration of Kurt Vonnegut as the car salesman is great. Somehow, I still have a hard time picturing him as a car salesman though.

Bobby Mangahas said...

True, but then again, if you read Breakfast of Champions Dwayne Hoover is a also a used car salesman (like Vonnegut). The only difference is that unlike Dwayne, Vonnegut didn't go on a rampage. But he did talk trash about the cars (Saab) he was selling. In the book, he's quoted as calling the Saab, the "ultimate yuppie canoe."