Literature
These goos are from the Literature category, people famous for their works of literature including novelists, poets, nonfiction writers, and critics. Browse another way.
A.A. Milne
Most of his animal characters were named like their species, but for some reason the bear was named after poo. Go »
A.J. Finn
Writers are fantasists by nature, but the window that this writer provided into his life wasn't what it seemed. Nor was his 2018 debut novel, which reached #1 on the NY Times best seller list, despite being a copy of another book and/or a copy of a Sigourney Weaver movie. Go »
Agatha Christie
Who gave this best-selling novelist her mysterious orientation? The butler did it! Go »
Akiyuki Nosaka
He was so shaped by the horrors of WWII, particularly the loss of his sister after their city was firebombed, that he wrote acclaimed children's stories that used fireflies and seaweed as metaphors for war. Go »
Aldous Huxley
This philosopher perennially challenged us to open new doors (including the doors) and to see the world anew. Go »
Alexandre Dumas
Disaster recovery means all for one (and one for all). Go »
Alfred Bester
One of the most acclaimed science-fiction shows of the 1990s cast an actor from one of the most popular science-fiction shows of the 1960s to play a character named for one of the best-regarded science-fiction writers of the 1950s. Go »
Amanda Gorman
This award-winning writer and activist will climb a hill to change the world. She plans to run for President in 2036. Go »
Amanda Gorman
This young poet has been given graduation advice by Oprah Winfrey and an inaugural invitation by Jill Biden. Go »
Amanda Hocking
Writing vampire romance books for teens can make anyone successful, even without a publisher. Who's the king? Go »
Amy Bloom
Her writing career blossomed when she turned away from being a therapist full-time. Go »
Amy Tan
You'll need all the joy luck you can get to recognize this Californian author. Go »
Andrei Codrescu
the original Exquisite Corpse Go »
Andy Weir
He's already a best-seller with only one book (and hit movie adaptation) to his name, about a resident of our nearest planetary neighbor. Go »
Ann M. Martin
Her YA novels have long been loved by babies and those who sit them. Go »
Ann M. Martin
Her popular books babysat a lot of 80s kids. Go »
Anna Quindlen
Besides making news every week, this novelist is a truly loud voice in liberal opinion. Go »
Anna Todd
She wrote after before she wrote before after she wrote. Go »
Anne Brontë
Unlike her sisters, she was uninterested in an air of anonymity and unobsessed with acrophobia. She focused on a widowed renter. Go »
Anne Frank
Frankly, I never thought a little girl's diary would provide such a glimpse of pure evil. Hide! Go »
Anne Rice
It only takes a minute to cook a vampire. Go »
Arthur C. Clarke
This scribe of Rama is a prolific author, but he'd have to write about 2,001 more books to catch up with Asimov. Go »
Arthur Conan Doyle
Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Lestrade, Adler, Moran -- and even Mycroft -- will live on forever, thanks to the imagination of this British doctor. Go »
Arthur Conan Doyle
It doesn't take a master sleuth to deduce the importance of the Pendleton Act in fighting corruption. Go »
Audrey Niffenegger
When she started writing, if she could have seen how successful she would later become, she might have gone back and started earlier. Go »
Ayn Rand
Capitalism and individuality were the core values of this Russian-born author-philosopher. Go »
Barbara Kingsolver
You can take the girl out of Kentucky, but you can't take Kentucky out of the girl. Who's the king? Go »
Beatrix Potter
mischievous rabbit and merchandise racket Go »
Beverly Cleary
A dog named Ribsy, a mouse named Ralph, and a girl named Ramona are the legacy of this popular children's author. Go »
Bram Stoker
Long before Stephenie Meyer and Anne Rice, this novelist got fans stoked about original bloodsucking count. Go »
Bram Stoker
This Irish novelist and theater manager gave bloodthirsty readers one of the greatest undying villains in all of literature. Go »
Brandon Brundidge
A sign meant to mock the president gave such a confidence boost to this autistic child that it inspired his mother to write a book. Go »
Candace Bushnell
New York's sex appeal hasn't been the same since Go »
Carl Hiaasen
This Floridian author kicks ass and won't surrender, and doesn't give a hoot if you have a problem with that. Go »
Carl Sandburg
This poet grew up in the tall grass of downstate Illinois, but eventually settled in the city of big shoulders nearby. Go »
Carol Aebersold
This Chicagoan is a positive parent who earned a B.S. in music while sending Santa's helpers to people's houses to hide and for kids to seek. Go »
Cassandra King
Her husband's novels were adapted into popular films, but this Southern novelist was more than just a wife on weekends, and she made some waves of her own. Who's the king? Go »
Charlaine Harris
This author proves that Louisiana is not where best-selling literature goes to die. Go »
Charles Dickens
The famous beginning of his book about two towns could be summarized as: Good Times Bad Times. Go »
Chris Van Allsburg
His books about dangerous board games and Arctic-bound trains have captivated children for decades. Go »
Clement Clarke Moore
"'Twas the Night Before Christmas," as commonly known, was this New York professor's masterpiece of tone. Although another family claimed to hear it first, this Biblical scholar's name's attached to each verse. The neighborhood called Chelsea was built on his land, and he put Greek and Hebrew within students' hands. Go »
Clive Cussler
According to his lawsuit, the adapted screenplay for his new desert movie is the pitts. Go »
Colleen Hoover
Maybe someday this veritably hopeless girl will confess her ugly love before it ends with retreat too late. Maybe now? Go »
Cormac McCarthy
The new American west is no country for pretty horses, orchard keepers, or children of God. Go »
Cyrano de Bergerac
This French novelist had plenty of panache, but there's no record of him helping another man to woo the woman he loved. Go »
Dallas Clayton
Writing children's literature is good. Becoming a financial hit on your own after every publisher turned you down is awesome. Go »
Dan Brown
Is it a coincidence or a code that the ninth goo of the round wrote a book about the ninth goo of the game? Go »
Danielle Steel
This author would never try to steal any ideas unless the award was getting into the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book in New York Times Bestseller List for 381 consecutive weeks. Go »
Danielle Steel
No living author has sold as many books as this stainless scribe. Go »
Dashiell Hammett
The master of hard-boiled detective fiction eventually grew as thin as the title of one of his most famous works. Go »
Dav Pilkey
He has written about stupid rabbits and dogs of varying sizes, but his biggest hit was about a superhero who forgot to wear a costume. Go »
David Baldacci
He had an absolutely powerful debut novel, but he's been stuck in a no-man's-land of diminished sales ever since. Go »
Dean Koontz
This intense thrillmaster is afraid of nothing, except the offspring of demons and Mary Shelley's monster. Go »
Dennis Lehane
Long before Shutter Island, this author explored a different geographical place in his novel about three childhood friends from Boston caught up in the same mystery as adults. Go »
Dick King-Smith
books for babes (who's the king?) Go »
Douglas Adams
This author of travel guides revealed the answer to his own goo... 42? Go »
Dr. Seuss
This author from Springfield, MA must have loved little kids, because he wrote the best children books in town like Green Eggs and Ham. Go »
Dr. Seuss
If the name of this goo is too hard to discern, then think back to the books that first taught you to learn. He was not a real doctor, but boy was he smart! He invented whole worlds with his words and his art. First a cat in a hat, then a Sam he called Am, then a Grinch just as green as the eggs and the ham. Even though he is gone, his old books still bring joys to a new generation of girls and young boys. Go »
Dracula
Today, this bloodthirsty killer is counted among Victorian literature's greatest villains. Go »
E.L. James
Her renamed Twilight fanfic has dominated the bestseller charts this year. Go »
Edgar Allan Poe
While working late upon a goo, I tried to write an eerie clue referring to a falling house, but then I heard a tiny mouse, or so I told my beating heart as not to have it break apart, afraid that just a little breath would bring upon a crimson death from that which tapped inside my room where I now feared a certain doom, so scary were those growing knocks I felt quite trapped inside a box beneath the earth outside my door, where I was sure forevermore my murder would remain unsolved, unless the open case revolved around a single stolen note I somehow found the time and wrote, to warn about the urgent noise that kept me from my website toys, but then I realized like a fool that what had made me lose my cool was just my fingers spelling out this clue to tell you all about a Boston poet, tried and true, whose tangled rhymes became a goo, and just in time to set the scene for scary goos this Halloween. Go »
Edgar Allan Poe
A raven, a cask of Amontillado, a black cat, a tale-telling heart, a purloined letter, and a fallen house of Usher are the legacy of this master of the macabre, whose obscurity is nevermore. Go »
Edgar Allan Poe
One can only imagine the tintinnabulation of the bells that announced his 1835 marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. Go »
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Tarzan of the jungle and John Carter of Mars are the most famous creations of this popular author of Chicago. Go »
Edgar Rice Burroughs
He went from the jungle to outer space. Go »
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
This English author's pen used to be mightier than the sword, but now his name is synonymous with bad fiction. Go »
Edward Stratemeyer
The Bobbsey twins and the taser have this man in common. Can you solve the mystery? Go »
Elena Ferrante
This Italian novelist has written popular books about lost daughters and brilliant friends, but she's more forthcoming about her characters than herself. Go »
Elin Hilderbrand
There once was a best-selling romance novelist who wrote from Nantucket. Go »
Elizabeth Gilbert
You don't have to eat goos for breakfast, pray for your opponents to lose, and love the tournament rules in order to win. Go »
Elmore Leonard
Hollywood considers it a crime to leave any of his novels unfilmed Go »
Emily Dickinson
This Massachusetts goo—Who Wrote — and Read—
A lot of Poetry—
From her Bedroom—
Needs — no Introduction— Go »
Emily Post
This Baltimore native taught generations of Americans how to behave. Go »
Emily St. John Mandel
She's currently getting a lot of praise for her new novel about hoteliers that shouldn't throw stones, but her 2014 novel about traveling actors feels much more appropriate for our current times. Go »
Erma Bombeck
Despite an annual salary of $1,000,000.00, this author refused to hire a maid, insisting it would hurt her ability to write. Go »
Ernest Cline
Hollywood is more than ready to adapt his popular novels about video games. Go »
Ernest Hemingway
I don't know about the sea, but for the old man, the sun also rises. Go »
F.X. Toole
He's not something that a Hollywood CGI artist would use, but a movie studio did adapt his stories about boxing into an Oscar-winning film. Go »
Francis Scott Key
The poem that he wrote after witnessing a U.S. flag survive a bombardment in the War of 1812 became the lyrics of the most American of songs, sung in a major key. Go »
Frank Herbert
This guy's books about spice, worms, and a lot of sand became the best-selling science fiction series ever. Go »
Fredrik Backman
This Swedish novelist's books about an elderly curmudgeon (soon to be played by Tom Hanks) and a star athlete who commits rape have made him an international bestseller. Go »
Fritz Leiber
This Chicagoan was so seminal to the sword-and-sorcery genre that he coined the phrase himself. Go »
Gabriel García Márquez
This Colombian author wrote in solitude, but his flair for magical realism made him a beloved national icon and a Nobel winner in the 1980s. Go »
Garrison Keillor
This writer and speaker is known for his chronicles of lakes, prairies, and Norwegian plainfolk. Go »
George Orwell
Big Brother found out that some days in Burma are more equal than others. Go »
George R.R. Martin
This fantasy author's relationship with HBO runs hot and cold. Go »
Gertrude Chandler Warner
If you saw this goo teaching, would she tell her children how she became a writer? Go »
Gertrude Stein
A goo is a goo is a goo is a goo. Go »
Gillian Flynn
Her novels about shadowy locations are hits, so she's not going away soon. Go »
Gollum
The words "my precious" had such a nice ring to them that he muttered them for 500 years. Go »
Greg Bear
His pen is the forge of God, his desk the anvil of stars, his heroine the queen of angels. Go »
Gregorio Fuentes
This Cuban became messianic long before he became titular. Go »
Gregory Maguire
Once upon a time, this writer turned public-domain fantasy and folklore into wickedly entertaining adult books, one of which was adapted into a Broadway mega-hit. Go »
Guy Boothby
This Australian author invented a diabolical doctor villain (no relation to Tesla) and a long-lived magical mummy. Go »
Guy de Maupassant
French author known for his brevity, in language and in form Go »
Gwendolyn Brooks
She was no Annie Allen, but this shy Chicagoan became Illinois's poet laureate. Go »
H.D.
T.p.i.b.k.b.h.i. Go »
H.G. Wells
This author, who wrote classic novels about time travel, genetic horrors, an invisible person, and alien attacks, created a deep well of science-fiction concepts to inspire later authors. Go »
H.G. Wells
Survival will be hard if Martians attack, but according to this author, it won't be much easier 800,000 years in the future. Go »
H.P. Lovecraft
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Go »
H.P. Lovecraft
This New England author turned tentacled monsters, extra-dimensional invaders, and maddening nightmares into cultish popularity. Go »
Hans Christian Andersen
This prolific Danish author gave the world an ugly duckling, a little mermaid, a snow queen, an emperor's new clothes, and Thumbelina. Go »
Harper Lee
This author is known for an acrimony towards songbirds. Go »
Haruki Murakami
Nobody does a better job of depicting the Kafkaesque complication and soullessness of modern Japanese society. Go »
Henry David Thoreau
He didn't live in Pennsylvania, but he did use pencils to write about his famous two-year residence on a pond, pencils that were likely provided by his father, a professional pencil-maker. Go »
Hillary Jordan
This Dallas native confronts the muddy matter of skin color in her novels, quite literally in one sci-fi book. Go »
Hunter S. Thompson
This self-described gonzo journalist was a proponent of freak power. Go »
Hunter S. Thompson
Don't be afraid to hate this writer even if he does set Garry Trudeau on fire. Go »
Ian Fleming
While serving on Her Majesty's secret service, he found inspiration for his most famous character, a spy who faced off against Dr. No, the man with the golden gun, and Goldfinger. Go »
Isaac Asimov
drafted regulations for automatons in triplicate Go »
J.D. Salinger
Franny and Zooey will never be as famous as his most beloved protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Go »
J.K. Rowling
It's a good thing this writer took up Pottery. ...Just Kidding. Go »
J.K. Rowling
A boy wizard conjured up enough money for this Brit to become the world's first billionaire author. Go »
J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel's profound influence on his chosen genre is no fantasy. Go »
Jack Kerouac
On the road to writing his biggest success, this author generated a beat for us to read by. Go »
James Baldwin
He may have lived and died in France, but he was a native son of Harlem and wrote about Memphis's most famous street. Go »
James Ellroy
He channeled his grief over his mother's murder into a novel about the Black Dahlia case, and went on to expose more of L.A.'s confidential secrets. Go »
James Frey
When he was caught lying to Oprah, his career was shattered into a million little pieces. Go »
James H. Billington
This historian and Russophile wants to give away his book collection online. Go »
James Joyce
Dublin's day-long describer Go »
James Patterson
You would need more than one Clue to solve a murder faster than this best-selling author of the Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club novels. Go »
Jane Austen
Be sensible here: You're only guessing at this goo, not marrying her. Go »
Janet Evanovich
This mystery novelist has a plum success in her thirteen (and counting) bestsellers about a bounty hunter. Go »
Janette Oke
Love solves a goo. Go »
Jean Rhys
She wrote about a sea that was wider than her native Caribbean. Go »
Jeanine Cummins
Her dirty novel has become a point of controversy in American race relations. Go »
Jeannette Walls
People who live in glass houses should probably move somewhere more stable. Go »
Jim Butcher
His popular books are about a wizard and private eye in Chicago, not a city in Germany. Go »
Joan Didion
She has written about white and blue, Miami and Bethlehem, fictions and confessions, and prayer and magic. Go »
John Gray
Aliens who supposedly visit Earth share a name with this relationship counselor, but that probably doesn't have anything to do with his belief in extraterrestrial explanations for marital conflict. Go »
John Green
Even far away from his brother, this YA fiction author never forgets to be awesome. Go »
John Green
He leveraged his video-blogging with his sibling into a best-selling YA lit career. Blame it on the stars, I guess. Go »
John Greenleaf Whittier
The big-headed mascot of the college named for this poet took the field dressed in colonial garb carrying a giant fountain pen. Go »
John Grisham
His books are really designed to get clients to wear pelican underwear. Go »
John Grisham
He's written about lawyers both rogue and street, as well as firms, partners, associates, and clients in general. Go »
John Jakes
He took us on a journey through 120 years of family history, but not once was Krypton ever mentioned. Go »
John Kennedy Toole
You can avoid being a dunce by recognizing this New Orleans writer with the presidential name. Go »
John Steinbeck
He wrote about angry grapes, rodents and humans, and Eden's neighbors. Go »
John Steinbeck
Stories of the Dust Bowl won this author a Pulitzer and a Nobel prize. Go »
John Updike
Five books about a running Rabbit are the legacy of this Pulitzer-winning novelist. Go »
John le Carré
He wasn't a tinker or a tailor or a soldier, but he really was a spy. Go »
John le Carré
A nursery rhyme inspired the title of this British author's smiling spy novel. Go »
Jonathan Safran Foer
His books have been called illuminating, extreme, and incredible. Go »
Jonathan Swift
This giant of satire couldn't be held down by a modest controversy over his proposal for Irish hunger. Go »
Joseph Conrad
If you go to Poland to see this short writer, you will be alone and your heart will be left out in the dark. Go »
Joseph Heller
You don't know the answer until you have solved this goo, but you can't solve this goo until you know the answer. Go »
Josephine Johnson
Her depiction of the Dust Bowl won a Pulitzer, and she remains the youngest winner ever for fiction. Go »
Josh Malerman
He started writing novels while on long journeys on a tour bus in between playing rock concerts. Now one of his novels has become a hit film about a woman, boy, and girl making a dangerous journey while blindfolded. Go »
Joyce Carol Oates
If she could enroll in her own classes at Princeton, would she go by Kelly Smith? Go »
Judith Krantz
She waited half a century to start writing, but she found bonkbuster success writing about lovers, secrets, and shopping. Go »
Judy Blume
helping teenagers deal with sex since 1969 Go »
Jules Verne
This Frenchman's heroes made fantastical journeys to the Earth's center, many leagues beneath the sea, around Earth in less than three months, and from here to the Moon. Go »
Julia Quinn
She gave up on a career in medicine to focus on writing historical romance novels with anachronistically feminist heroines, and now she has a hit TV adaptation thanks to Shonda Rhimes and Netflix. Go »
Junot Díaz
It doesn't take a genius to know that Cambridge has produced some pretty good writers. Go »
Kambri Crews
When she wanted to move to New York and become a professional storyteller, her parents wouldn't hear of it. Go »
Karen Abbott
This best selling author has made a name for herself writing about Liars, Sinners, and a Gypsy. Go »
Kem Nunn
This Californian author turned to his lifelong love of surfing for stories like a federal agent forced to surf while undercover and an HBO series about a surf shop owner from Ohio. Go »
Keri Arthur
This author's main character is being pressured to find the keys to the portals of Hell to keep a dark thing from our world. Go »
Kevin Kwan
His novel about billionaires in his native Singapore have made him crazy rich. Go »
Khaled Hosseini
This Afghan's career is hotter than 1000 suns. Go »
Khaled Hosseini
want help? go fly a kite Go »
Kim Harrison
This author's primary character may not live long without her pixy and vampire back-up. Go »
Kurt Vonnegut
After all of the horrific visions he witnessed and wrote about, instead of a high-school reunion, he'd have time-traveled back to high-school to prevent it from happening. Go »
L. Frank Baum
Dorothy was disappointed by the "wizard" that she and the scarecrow, tin man, and lion had followed the Yellow Brick Road to meet, but frankly, the real man behind the curtain was this imaginative American icon. Go »
Larry McMurtry
His most famous works are about a lonely bird, some loving nicknames, and a mountain with a spinal injury. Go »
Laura Hillenbrand
It's a cliché as tired as she is, but this horse girl turned her obsession into a best-selling book, and her career has not been broken by her condition. Go »
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Her celebrated book series about American history is the very opposite of the trend towards enormous McMansions in home ownership today. Go »
Lee Child
It's not a reach to imagine this thriller novelist pleased that his work comes between Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie. Go »
Lewis Carroll
This English author remains beloved for his writings about a girl who drank a shrinking potion, a grinning and disappearing cat, an insane tea-drinking hatter, a decapitation-obsessed crimson queen, and a nonsensical dragon made of gibberish. Go »
Lois Lowry
Her books about a Holocaust survivor, an emotional rememberer, and a short teller of tall tales have made her a beloved children's author. Go »
Long John Silver
Ironically, this fictional pirate had as great an influence on pirate mythology as any real treasure-seeker. Go »
Louis L'Amour
This Western writer loved the Old West so much, he wrote more than a hundred novels about it. Go »
Madeleine L'Engle
How many Christian children's authors base their books on quantum physics? Go »
Maeve Binchy
Oprah's endorsements made this Dublin writer a bigger hit than James Joyce. Go »
Marcel Proust
The French have lost a lot of time searching for meaning in his novels. Go »
Margaret Atwood
She doesn't like her work being called feminist, but her works about a patriarchal dystopia (adapted for Hulu) and an imprisoned murderess (adapted for Netflix) have furthered contemporary conversations about feminism. Go »
Mario Puzo
This 'family' man had super bros. and III godfathers. Go »
Mark Twain
One of America's most celebrated authors and humorists wrote about a Connecticut Yankee using an eclipse to save his life in King Arthur's court. Go »
Martin Amis
Sdrawkcab seog emit fo worra eht fi tahw? Go »
Martin Handford
Where's his inspiration? Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and Hans Jürgen Press. Go »
Mary Boykin Chesnut
She didn't just keep a diary of her life. She kept one of the entire Confederacy. Go »
Mary Higgins Clark
This "queen," who began writing as a young child, endured 40 publisher rejections early in life. After writing classes, literary workshops, and experience as a radio scriptwriter, she realized her aspirations for success as a novelist later in life, with an estimated 116,000,000 bestseller copies sold worldwide. Go »
Mary Shelley
Daughter of philosophers, wife of a novelist, she had plenty of Promethean figures in her life before she created one of her own. Go »
Mary Shelley
who knew that Frankenstein was a symbol of maternal guilt? Go »
Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
The genetic bond between these writers has led to critics interpreting Frankenstein as a feminist text. Go »
Matt Haig
Thank goodness this British author found reasons to stay alive after suffering from depression and anxiety, because his books about Father Christmas and other Humans have become best-sellers. Go »
Matthew Quick
He's a fast writer, turning out a new book every 1.375 years since his debut novel about gambling and dancing. Go »
Maya Angelou
My-a, what a lovely caged bird this angel makes. Go »
Melissa Broder
This online humorist was born a Virgo, which is not the sign after which she named her debut novel. Sad! Go »
Michael Chabon
The amazing adventures of this wonder boy are no mystery of Pittsburgh. Go »
Michael Crichton
In the Congo, this guy has a Sphere-ical Timeline. Go »
Michael Cunningham
This man's writing is best enjoyed after work, for over 119 minutes at a time, especially if your house is apocalyptic. Go »
Michael Jackson
moonwalking pop stars aren't known for their books about beer and whiskey Go »
Michael Ondaatje
One must be patient to come through this English novelist's oeuvre. Go »
Michael Sims
did your original ancestors have innies or outies? Go »
Miguel de Cervantes
Your quixotic quest to solve every last goo will require you to name this writer, whose work was so foundational to modern literature that he is synonymous with Spanish. Go »
Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with his dying professor taught him what people to expect in Heaven. Go »
Molly Peacock
private poet Go »
Naguib Mahfouz
This prolific Arab writer outlived religious uproar and assassination attempts, but he didn't outlive Bertrand Russell. Go »
Nathaniel Hawthorne
This early American master gave us Hester Prynne, Hepzibah Pyncheon, Dr. Heidegger, and Giacomo Rappaccini. Go »
Nathaniel Hawthorne
helped Salem confront its history Go »
Neal Stephenson
This cryptographer predicted a snowy crash for cyberculture. Go »
Neil Gaiman
This author's books about sleepy immortals and reflective masks may or may not be popular with gay men. Go »
Nicholas Sparks
Sparks fly whenever his lovers meet, in best-sellers like The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle. Go »
Nick McDonell
Publishing a novel at age 17 is enough to earn praise even from Hunter S. Thompson. Go »
Nico Walker
His long tour of duty in Iraq made him a veteran. His heroin addiction and bank robberies made him a criminal. His fruity debut novel made him a bestseller. Go »
Nora Roberts
In death, this author of over 200 romance and sci-fi novels has been so prolific that competitors have claimed she robbed them of shelf space. Go »
Norman Bridwell
This children's book author had a (very) big hit on his hands when he invented a colorful pet for a girl named after his own daughter. Go »
O. Henry
In a shocking twist ending, this goo is both an American short-story author and a candy bar made of peanuts, caramel, fudge, and chocolate. Go »
Octavia Butler
As a fledgling writer, she found a way to sow and harvest ideas like wild seeds. In adulthood, her talents made her a master mind. Go »
Octavio Paz
inspired by Hawthorne, married by Garro, honored by Nobel Go »
Orson Scott Card
His gaming approach to military science fiction in the 1980s was nearly ended by his conservative views in 2013. Go »
Owen King
He slept longer on starting a writing career than his father, mother, and brother. Who's the king? Go »
Pat Conroy
dysfunctional families are the root of psychological trauma, especially involving basketballs in faces and tigers in cages Go »
Pat Mora
Poetry is more of a holy ritual than a form of writing for this sometime children's author. Go »
Patricia Highsmith
By the time she dreamed up con artist Tom Ripley, Alfred Hitchcock had already adapted her first novel into a film in 1951. Go »
Paula Hawkins
Come on, her young female fans will do the locomotion with her. Go »
Peter Benchley
The cultural impact of his thrillers, adapted into films by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Peter Yates, and Michael Ritchie, has driven him into ocean conservation as a means of making amends. Go »
Peter Reading
This Liverpudlian almost enjoys reading poetry more than writing it. Go »
Phil Whitaker
This British doctor had never been to India when he wrote his first novel about as astronomical event there. Go »
Philip K. Dick
Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report were all based on works by this dickish author. Go »
Philip Pullman
His fantasy novels have covered some fairly dark material. Go »
R.L. Stine
This author, best known for giving children goosebumps, is so successful it's scary. Go »
Ray Bradbury
Before writing about tattooed men and book-burning, this sci-fi writer chronicled life on Mars. Go »
Raymond Chandler
He started writing so late that it's strange to remember him for his extended farewell. Go »
Richard Bach
This author so loves aviation that he wrote a best-selling philosophical novel about a seagull who flew just for the love of flight. Go »
Rick Riordan
The first of nearly 40 clues that this author was going to be a hit must have struck him like a stolen bolt of lightning. Go »
Ridley Pearson
This theme park aficionado has made a killing on the bestseller lists. Go »
Rita Dove
Can you win a Pulitzer for those little messages written on the wrapper? Go »
Roald Dahl
He wrote about giant peaches and chocolate factories, but not about lentil stew. Go »
Robert A. Heinlein
there's no such thing as a free goo Go »
Robert Bly
iron man Go »
Robert Bridges
This English poet may burn the bridges down if the new verse isn't right for a spirited man. Go »
Robert Burns
This fiery Scottish poet gave us the words to the first song we sing every year. Go »
Robert Frost
The most famous poem by this New England author would have been about defying his GPS navigation device if it had been written today. Go »
Robert Jordan
His epic series about a mythic wheel went on for a longer time than he did, but he was no stranger to posthumous publication, having continued stories about a famous barbarian by another writer with the same first name. Go »
Robinson Crusoe
normally the game doesn't allow fictional characters, but this wouldn't be the first mistake Scott has made Go »
Ross Macdonald
This Canadian author hit the bullseye with his novels about the seedy side of Santa Barbara. Go »
Rudolfo Anaya
This Albuquerque-based author has had a blessed career. Go »
Rupi Kaur
She went from India to Canada, and later from Instagram to a series of best-selling books of poetry about sunflowers and homebodies. Go »
S.E. Hinton
She didn't have any outside influences when she wrote a best-selling novel about gangs at her Oklahoma high school. Go »
Salman Rushdie
As fishy as it sounds, this Indian author was in such a hurry to get killed he wrote a novel declaring Muhammad a liar. Go »
Sandra Brown
This colorful Texan has written dozens of best-selling romances and thrillers since her writing career began in 1981. Go »
Sandra Cisneros
This poet and novelist's delicious works cover such tasty topics as caramel and mangoes. Go »
Sapphire
Her fiery debut set the publishing world ablaze. Go »
Saul Bellow
This Canadian writer made it rain (National Book Awards for Fiction) by embracing a philosophy of carpe diem. Go »
Sax Rohmer
This author roamed between genres like pastoral fantasy, Islamic terrorism, and mummy-based horror, but his most enduring creation was a racist caricature of a crime lord with distinctive facial hair. Go »
Seth Grahame-Smith
Hollywood's hottest new horror writer started his career modestly, by "improving" upon Jane Austen. Go »
Sherman Alexie
spell your guess in smoke Go »
Sidney Lanier
Tiger-lilies in Chattahoochee? He was just makin' it up. Go »
Spider Robinson
It's fitting that this Canadian writer earned the Robert A. Heinlein Award, since he's been a lifelong fan and even wrote a book based on Heinlein's idea. Go »
Stephanie Land
Her experiences cleaning houses and surviving on welfare have made her a better writer and helped her land a TV adaptation deal. Go »
Stephen King
A shining example of a stand in misery. Who's the king? Go »
Stephenie Meyer
This author's novels about teenagers falling in love at twilight by an eclipsed moon have become huge hits. Go »
Steve Berry
This fruity author (and lawyer and politician) has written a best-selling annual series of novels about the action-filled adventures of a Danish book dealer. Go »
Steve Martini
This San Francisco novelist has wielded undue influence over the crime genre for years. Go »
Stieg Larsson
you don't have to hack my computer to solve this mystery Go »
Sun Tzu
This general found art in unusual subjects. Go »
Suzanne Collins
Even on Thanksgiving, young readers are famished for good adventure stories. Go »
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Her numerical books about one lover, six rock stars, and seven husbands have become best-sellers and recent Hollywood adaptations. Go »
Terry Pratchett
I hope he saves his world on disk before he forgets it. Go »
Thomas Harris
His novels, all of them adapted by Hollywood, are about a cannibal and serial killer named for an ancient general. Go »
Thomas Pynchon
This postmodern novelist's best known book is about a particular auction lot. Go »
Tom Clancy
This (red) October, the net (force) sum (of all fears) will be (rainbow) six. Go »
Tom Stoppard
This playwright has made Shakespearean supporting characters (and Shakespeare) die and fall in love. Go »
Tommy Orange
This Oklahoma tribal citizen and Oakland native is better than okay, says the Pulitzer Prize committee that made him a finalist. Go »
Toni Morrison
This beloved author wrote one hell of a jazz song of Solomon. Go »
Truddi Chase
You may want to chase down this bunny, but if you catch her, she will scream in one of multiple voices. Go »
Truman Capote
His books Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood changed literature, but not as much as two nuclear bombs changed warfare. Go »
Truman Capote
This journalist and author was about as likeable as a cold breakfast. Go »
Uncle John
Here's a little-known factoid: Your mother's brother can't count to eight, even when he takes a long time in the bathroom. Go »
V.C. Andrews
Her stories about extra-close families took her to the top floor of publishing success. Go »
Veronica Roth
Is it hard to write a trilogy about a teen dystopia when you're a successful published author before you graduate college? Go »
Victor Hugo Green
If you were black and you wanted to travel in the Jim Crow South, green was the way to go. Go »
Virgil
The Greeks had Homer, but the Romans had this author of the Aeneid and the Georgics. Go »
Virginia Woolf
She wrote classics like To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway in a room of her own. Go »
W. Bruce Cameron
He used to terrorize his teenage daughter's prospective boyfriends, but now a different member of the family has given his life (and writing career) new purpose. Go »
W. Somerset Maugham
This mostly gay would-be doctor wrote about human bondage, a razor's edge, and a magician not unlike Aleister Crowley. Go »
Wallace Stevens
Come Sunday Morning, you may be disillusioned to see the time has come for building Snow Men at 10 o'clock. Go »
Wallace Stevens
This Pulitzer-winning poet, appropriately from Reading, remains well-regarded for his depictions of frozen rulers, pagan pigeons, and icy conifers. Go »
Walt Whitman
His poetry about grass, lilacs, and calamus made him a major American wit of the 1800s. Go »
Walter Kirn
After early success writing about a teenager who sucks his thumb, the future of his writing career is no longer up in the air. Go »
Washington Irving
His characters Rip Van Winkle and the Headless Horseman made him the father of American folklore, if not the father of his country. Go »
William Carlos Williams
This Passaic pediatrician and PR-born painter was a popular poet. Go »
William Gibson
This neuromancer is not just a towering figure in cyberpunk and steampunk, but an accurate predictor of the Internet and our tech-driven culture. Go »
Winston Groom
Life is like a box of chocolates: You never know when a film studio is going to claim that their international smash hit actually lost money so that they don't have to pay you a contractually-mandated percentage of the profit. Go »
Yann Martel
This author's well-rounded protagonist and his shipmate had a very different relationship than Calvin and Hobbes. Go »
Zak Ebrahim
He's no stranger to being a son of a cut-throat group. Go »
Zelda Fitzgerald
Along with her husband, a fellow novelist, this flapper and feminist icon was among the historical figures portrayed in Midnight in Paris. Go »
Zora Neale Hurston
Dis Floridiuhn goo's uhn inspiration fo' Alice Walkuh and Toni Mo'son and othuhs uh th' sort. Go »
ee cummings
i couldnt
bring myself
to publish
todays
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without
comings to grip
with some
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punctuation Go »
