John Sutherland’s massive The Lives of the Novelists is a browsers delight! From the 17th Century and Daniel DeFoe to the 20th Century and Fredrick Pohl (yes, a science fiction writer made the list!) you’ll find hours of entertainment and enlightenment in these pages. Yes, the lists are quirky. Many canonical novelists aren’t included and some surprising authors are. Sutherland includes information that you might not be familiar with. For instance, did you know Edgar Allan Poe spent the last hours of his life delusional, walking the streets of Baltimore wearing someone else’s clothes, calling out for “Reynolds”? The major writers are here: Jane Austen, Henry James, James Joyce, Stephen King, etc. But it’s the quirky picks that create much of the fun. If you’d like to take a look at the list of 294 novelists, just click here. This is the best browsing book of 2012 so far! GRADE: A
Frederik Pohl, anyway…a more major writer than Stephen King, if less popular…certainly Pohl has had a much more interesting career. (And certainly has averaged better and more original fiction, if of course less widely-read.) It is an excellent idea…a latter-day companion of sorts to Asimov’s collections of biographies of scientists…thanks for pointing it out.
Vernor Vinge made the cut, too, Todd. Click on the link and you can actually read Sutherland’s essays on these writers.
Alice Sebold? And I see the usual preference for UK writers.
John Sutherland is a Brit, Patti. That explains plenty of the author choices.
Well, the index as provided by Google Books skips good chunks of the contents, but one sees a number of sf writers, occasional and frequent, among the select. Along with the Mickey Spillanes and Georgette Heyers and Muriel Sparks and Robert E. Howards. Some sensible judgment at play in the selection, though I’ll be interested in how everyone is handled.
THE LIVES OF THE NOVELISTS is an addictive book, Todd. I’m about half-way through it. Sutherland does a nice job keeping the author summaries pithy and clever.
Well, giving even a footnote to Bret Easton Ellis is at least as frivolous as Sebold’s inclusion. Can’t ask for everything, particularly in a selection under 300. But Vinge yes and Sturgeon and Leiber and Russ and Brackett no? Etc. etc. etc.
These types of reference books create their own controversy with “who is in and who is out,” Todd. The same thing happened with The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry edited by Rita Dove.
Darn you, George. You know I’m going to have to get this one. Any book that includes Richard Yates alongside Michael Avallone is one I need to look at.
I knew you’d want THE LIVES OF THE NOVELISTS, Jeff. You will love it! And thank you for simulating the economy.
Hummpf. Since Franklin W. Dixon isn’t there, it’s not worth looking at.
I was disappointed that Victor Appleton, Jr. wasn’t on the list either, Rick.
Sounds like a good one. Must check out the library hold list!
You will love THE LIVES OF THE NOVELISTS, Carl. There’s something in it for everyone.