I discovered Secrets of the World’s Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner by complete chance. But, it was a Lucky Day for me! Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate wrote a marvelous literary biography of Erle Stanley Gardner with this book. It was published in 1980. The Fugates share a lot of information about the life of Erle Stanley Gardner. That would be plenty for a book of this type. But the Fugates go beyond that and reveal Gardner’s writing techniques, his writing methods, and his writing advice to people wanting to write a mystery. I found Secrets of the World’s Best-Selling Writer an entertaining and enlightening read. If you’re a fan of Erle Stanley Gardner’s work, you need to check this book out! If you’re a fan of Pulp Fiction, you’ll find a lot of information on that era. If you’re a fan of Perry Mason, you’ll learn a lot about the creation and evolution of that best-selling series. There’s a lot of valuable information between these covers!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword
1. Inside a Writer’s Mind
2. “Slowly Learn, Then You Will Know”
3. The Old Woodpulp Schoolhouse
4. Lessons from the Pulps
5. Learning the Basics
6. The Reader’s Servant
7. Luring Readers
8. The Fiction Factory
9. Searching for the Plot Machine
10. Heroes for Sale
11. From Idea to Printed Page
12. The Birth of Perry Mason
13. Gardner vs. Hobson
14. “Start with a Mystery”
15. His Last Bow
Appendices: “Formulae for Writing a Mystery”
I. “The Fluid or Unstatic Theory of Plots”
II. “Page of Actors and Victims”
III. “Character Components”
IV. “The Foundation of Character Background”
V. “Chart of Romantic Conflict”
VI. “Conflicts of Mother Love”
VII. “Departures from Normal Theory of Story Situation”
VIII. “The Plot Tide or Thrust”
IX. “The Mystery Aftermath Method”
X. Perry Mason Title Analysis
XI. “The Last Plotting Notebook”
Bibliography
Index
Good one. I have read a non fiction book about Gardner’s life but it wasn’t this one.
Jeff, I stumbled across SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING WRITER completely by accident. I’ll be quoting from this book next week when I review the newly published Donald Lam/Bertha Cool novel, THE KNIFE SLIPPED.
I remember when this one came out. I read a library copy. Good stuff!
Bill, I was surprised to see THE KNIFE SLIPPED mentioned in SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING WRITER. I’ll share what I found next week when I review that newly published Donald Lam/Bertha Cool HARD CASE CRIME novel.
What Jeff said. I enjoyed his biography but missed this.
Rick, you would enjoy SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING WRITER because it chronicles Erle Stanley Gardner’s writing career. And it shows plenty of interaction between ESG and his editors. Fascinating stuff!
One of my mom’s good friends had been one of his secretaries prior to WWII. There was a picture of her in one bio, I think the one by Dorothy B. Hughes.
She had a bunch of books signed by him, and even a manuscript at one time, with many personal notes on it. I think when she died there was very little left, but not sure what happened to it. When I got in the book business, I suggested she put it up at auction, and she was “thinking bout it”
Maggie, that great Erle Stanley Gardner stuff is probably lost. Think of all the book collections that end up in landfills because the family doesn’t want to be bothered.
George, after reading about ESG’s secrets and modus operandi – wouldn’t that be a new “job” for you:
Writing detective novels? 😉
Wolf, retirees need a hobby…
I read this when it came out and really liked it. Might need to hunt up a copy and read it again!
James, I’m reading the just published THE KNIFE SLIPPED and you can imagine my surprise when I found a page of information in SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING WRITER about why that book wasn’t published back in the 1930s.
Another one for the list. I remember my dad telling me Gardner dictated his Perry Mason novels into a tape recorder on his commutes to work. Not sure where he heard that, but I’m wondering if there’s any mention of it in this book.
Matt, at certain periods, Erle Stanley Gardner used a tape recorder. He also dictated novels and stories to his team of secretaries. ESG had a “Fiction Factory” set up to maximize his production. SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING WRITER details his whole operation.