By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
1. As a young boy, Ernest Hemingway was dressed in girls’ clothing by his mother and referred to as ‘Ernestine’.
We begin this selection of great Ernest Hemingway facts with a rather revealing nugget about his childhood: Hemingway’s mother had been hoping for a girl.
Five fun and interesting facts about Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick
1. Much of his mature work was a flop during his lifetime. Much of Melville’s later work – the majority of which is now his most highly regarded fiction – was neither critically nor commercially successful when it was first published. Between 1863 and 1887, an average of 23 copies of Moby-Dick – now his most widely read book – were sold each year. It now sells more copies each year than were sold in the entire nineteenth century and is acknowledged as a classic. (Of course, its influence can even be seen in the modern world of coffee and capitalism: the founders of the Starbucks chain took the name from a character in Melville’s novel.)
By Patrick Smith “The term ‘Movement’—and it’s always written with a capital ‘M’—has always given me the heebie-jeebies, it’s very pretentious,” science-fiction icon William Gibson told Andy Diggle in a 1997 interview. “I was so taken aback the first time I heard the word ‘Cyberpunk.’” Of course, since Gibson’s meteoric success with the publication of … Read more
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
John Steinbeck (1902-68) is one of the major writers of American literature. His novels and short stories, which include Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and East of Eden, are some of the most remarkable works of twentieth-century fiction. But what are some of the most intriguing and curious facts about John Steinbeck, about his life, work, and legacy?
By Viola van de Sandt 1. He had no regrets. In a letter to fellow novelist Hugh Walpole, James wrote in 1913: ‘We must know, as much as possible, in our beautiful art . . . what we are talking about – & the only way to know it is to have lived & loved … Read more