Fascinating Facts about Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time PDF Download

Author: Dave Astor
Publisher: Daveastorwrites.com
ISBN: 9780692851487
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
If you love classic literature and reading novels from famous fiction authors then you are going to love this book! In Fascinating Facts, literary trivia expert and author Dave Astor provides 100-plus short chapters which contain anecdotes, oddities, coincidences, and of course great trivia about the greatest authors who have ever put pen to paper.It's no surprise that the best writers have interesting facts surrounding them, because famous authors have to be pretty fascinating themselves in order to create the literature we cherish and enjoy so much. Here is a sample of some of the many interesting informational nuggets and gems you will discover: * The phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" originally referred to the wealthy family in which novelist Edith Wharton (nee Jones) grew up. * Edward Bellamy predicted debit cards in his novel Looking Backward - published in 1888! * The 1950s "Cat in the Hat" character created by Dr. Seuss looks like a feline version of the Uncle Sam character drawn by that same writer for his 1940s editorial cartoons. * Shakespeare and Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes died on almost the same day in 1616. * Dorothy Parker bequeathed her money to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. * O. Henry coined the term "banana republic." Whether you are a bibliophile wanting to know everything about famous authors or just want to wow your friends and amaze your relatives with interesting and entertaining literary trivia, Fascinating Facts is a fun book that you'll return to over and over again. Order your copy today!

Author: Britannica Educational Publishing
Publisher: Britannica Educational Publishing
ISBN: 162275087X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
While a number of genres—including mystery, romance, fantasy, science fiction, horror, literary fiction, and thrillers, among others—comprise the broader category of fiction, few authors in those genres can claim popular crossover appeal. Culled from a variety of these genres, the authors profiled in this appealing volume have penned books that have done just that. Readers will be introduced to the lives and works of such writers as Judy Blume, Michael Chabon, Suzanne Collins, Dave Eggers, Yann Martel, Toni Morrison, and Kurt Vonnegut, learning how they achieved widespread acclaim and transcended literary conventions.

Author: J. Peder Zane
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393339866
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
What if you asked 125 top writers to pick their favorite books? Which titles would come out on top? You'll find the answer in The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books: the ultimate guide to the world's greatest books. As writers such as Norman Mailer, Annie Proulx, Stephen King, Jonathan Franzen, Claire Messud, Margaret Drabble, Michael Chabon and Peter Carey name the ten books that have meant the most to them, you'll be reminded of books you have always loved and introduced to works awaiting your discovery. The Top Ten includes summaries of 544 books—each of which is considered to be among the ten greatest books ever written by at least one leading writer. In addition to each writer's Top Ten List, the book features Top Ten Lists tabulated from their picks, including: • The Top Ten Books of All Time • The Top Ten Books by Living Writers • The Top Ten Books of the Twentieth Century • The Top Ten Mysteries • The Top Ten Comedies The Top Ten will help readers answer the most pressing question of all: What should I read next?

Author: Nic Schuck
Publisher: Panhandle Books
ISBN: 1087936136
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
In the tradition of other great ex-patriot stories like The Sun Also Rises or All the Pretty Horses, Native Moments is a coming-of-age adventure set among the lush landscape of Costa Rica. After the death of his brother, Sanch Murray leaves for a surf trip as a way to cope and sets out on a quixotic search for an alternative to the American Dream. Set in 1999 Costa Rica, Sanch and his friend Jake Higdon wander the dirt roads of Tamarindo and surrounding areas chasing waves as a way to live out the romantic fantasy lifestyle of traveling surfers. Jake Higdon, six years Sanch's senior, takes on the role of the wise leader and Sanch as his young apprentice. Sanch's adventure leads to encounters with people who share world views he had never considered and could potentially shape his own changing perceptions about life. Through sometimes humorous episodes such as trying his hand as a matador at a roadside rodeo or in his not so humorous battle with dysentery, Sanch explores life's beauty and wonder alongside the darker undercurrents of humanity. Along his journey, Sanch befriends a shamanic traveler named Rob, young revolutionaries from Venezuela, numerous expatriates from around the world trying to escape whatever it is that keeps chasing them, and a beautiful local girl named Andrea, who Sanch suspects is a prostitute but can't help falling for.

Author: John Williams
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590179285
Category : Adultery
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
"Born the child of a poor farmer in Missouri, William Stoner is urged by his parents to study new agriculture techniques at the state university. Digging instead into the texts of Milton and Shakespeare, Stoner falls under the spell of the unexpected pleasures of English literature, and decides to make it his life. Stoner is the story of that life"--

Author: James A Michener
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813047005
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener was in his sixties when he began traveling frequently to the Florida Keys. One result of those visits was the novel Matecumbe, named after two of the islands that comprise the town of Islamorada, located approximately half way between Miami and Key West. Never before published, Matecumbe features many of the hallmarks of Michener's best work, including detailed descriptions of place. However, the plot is much more intimate than that found in most of his large-scale, epic historical novels. Focusing on the parallel lives of a woman and her mother, both divorced, Michener spent his creative energy on character development and allegorical storytelling. Random House, his publisher, wasn't pleased, and wanted the mega-best-selling author to concentrate on producing "heavyweight" books like Hawaii and Centennial. Matecumbe seemed too much in the vein of his earlier romance novel, Sayonara. So it sat in a drawer until, eventually, Michener gifted it--including the copyright--to Joe Avenick, his friend and former ghostwriter. Avenick played a key role in the research and writing of Sports in America and Chesapeake, and introduced Michener to Melissa (Missy) DeMaio, who soon became the primary reason for Michener's increasingly frequent visits to the Keys. Biographers and critics have long agreed that Michener's personality and his characters were both affected by his relationship with DeMaio. As perhaps his most encompassing autobiographical novel, and the one written in the midst of these changes, Matecumbe provides what may be tantalizing glimpses into Michener's life.

Author: Hanya Yanagihara
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0804172706
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 833

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

Author: Durjoy Datta
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9385890492
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Life teaches us what ‘love’ truly is And love gives definition to ‘life’ Aisha, a bit of a late bloomer, has to figure out what it means to be a woman and to be desired. Danish feels time is running out for him and he’s going to end up as a nobody, as opposed to his overachieving, determined younger brother. Life takes a strange turn when Danish, the confused idiot, is appointed as the student counsellor to Aisha. Between the two of them they have to figure out love, life, friendship—most of all, themselves. And it’s not proving to be . . . easy? Our Impossible Love presents, Life the way it is and Love the way it should be

Author: Durjoy Dutta
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9385990233
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
We are in the car. She’s looking at me. I can see the love in her eyes for me. Then a huge crash. She’s flung out of the window. I’m thrown out too. A pool of blood. Her eyes are still on me . . . but now it’s a death stare. I am Daman and I wake up to this nightmare. Every. Single. Day. Waking up from a long coma, Daman learns that he was in a massive car crash with a girl who vanished soon after the accident, leaving him for dead. Strangely, all he remembers is a hazy face, her hypnotic eyes, and her name—Shreyasi. To come to terms with his memory lapse he starts piecing together stories about himself and Shreyasi from his dreams, which he then turns into a hugely popular blog. When he’s offered a lucrative publishing deal to convert his blog pieces into a novel, he signs up immediately. However, he gives in to editorial pressure and agrees to corrupt the original edgy character of Shreyasi. Big mistake. From then on Daman is stalked and threatened by a terrifying beauty who claims to be Shreyasi and who will stop at nothing to make him pay for being a sell-out. Before Daman fights back, he needs to know: Is she really who she claims to be? What does she want from him now? What if he doesn’t do what she wants him to? The Girl of My Dreams is definitely not your usual love story.

Author: Durjoy Datta
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351182959
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
When death is that close, will your heart skip a beat? Two patients are admitted to room no. 509. One is a brilliant nineteen-year-old medical student, suffering from an incurable, fatal disease. She counts every extra breath as a blessing. The other is a twenty-five-year-old drug addict whose organs are slowly giving up. He can’t wait to get rid of his body. To him, the sooner the better. Two reputed doctors, fighting their own demons from the past, are trying everything to keep these two patients alive, even putting their medical licences at risk. These last days in the hospital change the two patients, their doctors and all the other people around them in ways they had never imagined. Till the Last Breath is a deeply sensitive story that reminds us what it means to be alive.