Best literary one-hit wonders.

[jobycom]

Salinger has made the news today, so I thought of this. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/books/06/03/salinger.catcher.lawsuit/index.html

I left off some of the normal choices like Pasternak, Plath, and Wilde, because they were accomplished writers in other genres, so even though they wrote only one novel apiece, they weren't one-hit wonders in terms of writing.

[Orrex]

1. A thought from Goblinmonger

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=208&topic_id=7967

[jobycom]

3. Yeah, I don't believe it, but who knows?

They grew up together, so they'd have similar language and influences, so shared words and stylistic similarities don't surprise me. Back in high school I had a very close friend who was also a writer, and our styles in some cases were indistinguishable.

There's something about "To Kill a Mockingbird" that doesn't feel like Truman Capote. There's a humility, or lack of pretension, or something. Not that Capote is pretentious. I don't know, I can't explain it. Though I've never read "The Grass Harp," so I don't know.

I just don't think so. You can feel a writer's presence in their work, especially if you write yourself, and it just doesn't feel like Capote, even if there are stylistic similarities.

But who knows? Anything's possible.

[Orrex]

7. Honestly, I simply haven't read enough of their respective work even to speculate

Which is why I kept my mouth shut in that discussion, for once...

[Patiod]

63. Does seeing "Tru" count?

With Robert Morse. And I read "In Cold Blood". That's about the extent of my Capote knowledge...

[mitchum]

11. Yes, see my argument against goblinmonger's assertion in that thread

there is a marked difference in their styles

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. yes...I saw it and agree with it.

all this has made for some very interesting reading this evening. Thanks.

[jobycom]

23. I think you, me, and McCamy Taylor were focused on the same theme.

"Mockingbird" is selfless, and nothing Capote wrote is selfless. He is in every word, and every word tries to make you look at him, not just his story. That's what I was getting at, but you and MT said it much better than I could. MT's point about Mockingbird being the work of a journalist used to distancing herself from her writing was a good one, too.

Thanks, I should have read that to the bottom before commenting.

[bigwillq]

2. Mockingbird (nt)

[jobycom]

4. I figured that would be the most popular here, and it is so far. Funny, though,

I think of the Lounge as full of Ignatius J Reillys, including me, so I'm surprised Toole isn't getting more love.

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. I love IJR and the Wheel of Fortuna.

They are second.
Mockingbird has always had my heart.
I don't think Capote wrote it. I heard that at one point. I think helping him on "In Cold Blood" did Harper Lee in. She had that one masterpiece in her.
However, Capote could show a side of himself much like Mockingbird in ways. His stories "A Thanksgiving Visitor" and "A Christmas Memory" are classics.

[jobycom]

9. Wheels within wheels.

Funniest darned book!

I haven't read those Capote works. Guess I'll look them up.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. Here's a link to "A Christmas Memory."

http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/capotechristmas.html

There is an old black and white special of "A Christmas Memory" starring Geraldine Page as Cousin Sook. I try to find it every Christmas. They did a remake, but it doesn't compare.

[alphafemale]

19. In Cold Blood finished them both off professionally I think.

He got too close, too.

[FloridaJudy]

5. Ralph Ellison "Invisible Man"

Though I read he'd written a second novel that was accidentally destroyed in a house fire.

[jobycom]

6. Darn. Forgot him,

Wiki says he claimed he lost a second novel in a fire, but that it was disproven--no details on how. Also says he wrote about 2000 pages of a second novel but never finished.

Wish I'd included him.

[mitchum]

12. That is the correct answer

[jmm]

42. "Juneteenth" was released after his death.

It was heavily edited by a friend of his but it was a good read if you can get past the choppiness.

[fishwax]

61. Cadillac Flambe -- one of the stories from that mess -- is an interesting read

Rumor had it that they were going to publish the entire 2000 page manuscript from which Juneteenth was edited, but it never materialized. Apparently next year they're releasing an 800+ page version of the manuscript under the title Three Days Before the Shooting ...

[Stuart G]

13. What about.."Profiles in Courage" John F. Kennedy..?

[gmoney]

20. Except Kennedy probably didn't write it...

seems pretty widely accepted that he had it ghost written

[Stuart G]

48. Oh well...another bubble burst.........nt

[gmoney]

49. And it really wasn't a novel

I've not read it, but I think it was a series of true stories of different courageous acts (military, legislative, etc.)

[gmoney]

14. Salinger's short stories work together as a "composite novel"

Very interesting book on that notion: http://www.amazon.com/Salingers-Glass-Stories-Composite-Novel/dp/0878752439

He even proposes that "Catcher" was really written by a character of the Glass family.

[MilesColtrane]

15. "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me" is worth considering.

[mitchum]

18. Thought of that; it is undoubtedly the best novel written by a musician

[underpants]

16. The Constitution- the Virginia delegation

[jobycom]

24. Well, I was thinking fiction, but these days, sadly, the Constitution might apply. nt

[mitchum]

17. self delete: replied to wrong post

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. I like all of these books....

How to vote?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. Other: "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. -nt

[jobycom]

27. Oh, good pick.

Another I would have included if I had thought of it.

[KansDem]

26. "Freefall to Ectasy" by Jack Skowron...

Jean Winslow said it was on the Best Seller list for only 1 1/2 weeks. It was Jack's only novel.

THE GANG AT DON'S DRIVE - IN
Transmission
13 January 1978

Production No
47516

At the Tone…
Jim, I have finally finished twelve long years of psychotherapy and I'm now able to tell you just what I think of you. Would you please call me?

Written By
James S. Crocker

Directed By
Harry Falk

Quote
“I couldn’t get past chapter four”

Jack Skowron, author of the bestseller “Freefall to Ecstasy” hires his old friend Jim Rockford to assist him with research for his second book. He and Jack are investigating some prominent community members who are connected by the restaurant they used to frequent and the death of a student on a yacht in 1962. They go to the marina to meet the captain of the yacht, but he attacks Jack, but Jim intervenes. Jack takes Jim to dinner, but when they return to his hotel Jack is attacked by two thugs, and when Jim intervenes, Jack runs off. Next day Jim finds jack in the hospital, and when the Doctor tells Jim that Jack’s alcoholism is harming his liver and will kill him, Jim feels obligated to help his friend. After he is discharged Jack moves in with Jim, but when Jim drives Rocky to his trailer the two thugs, who have kidnapped Jack, attack them. Jim files a report with Dennis, but the police department are distracted by a robbery of a bank, so Jim gets nowhere. Jack is taken by the thugs who want him to stop pursuing his book and threaten to push him over a building to contemplate things like Rollo - the protagonist in his book. Jim meets with Jean Winslow and questions her – scarring her, Stan Collier and Porter into wanting Jim out of the way so they hire an assassin know as the Cowboy. Jack meanwhile has been released, has taken his things from Jim’s trailer and gone to the airport – he has accepted a bribe and will not write his book. Jim finds him when Jack confesses his book is not a “where are they now” or a expose on drugs as he previously claimed, it is supposed to solve the mystery of the dead student, the case Jack’s father – a policeman was investigating. Jim leaves, but is taken to the bathroom by the Cowboy, who is set to kill Jim when Jack bursts in and stops him. Jack has started work on the book and is no longer drinking, but as they leave for dinner at the sandcastle, Jim skims through Jack’s notebook to find drawings…

Starring James Garner

Also Starring Noah Beery as, Joe Santos as Dennis Becker

Guest Stars

Anthony Zerbe
Jack Skowron

Mills Watson
Stan Collier

Casey
Robert Atcheson

Dick Bakalayan
Porter

Arlene Golonka
Jean Winslow - Rosenthal

Elaine Princi
Jo Ann

§ We learn in this episode that Jim used to lay carpets for a living with Jack in the late fifties. The carpet company was called ‘Carpet Town’. James Garner also layed carpets as early employment with his father.

§ Anthony Zerbe (pronounced Zer-bee) starred as Lieutenant Trench in Harry-O and has appeared in such films as Star Trek: Insurrection where he played Admiral Dougherty, and the James Bond film Licence to Kill, in which he played doomed boatman Milton Krest.

§ This episode does not feature Gretchen Corbett or Stuart Margolin.

Rockford Files

[Shell Beau]

28. I think I am the only person on the planet to have never read or watched

Mockingbird! I know, I know. WTF? Right?

I will get around to it though.

[jobycom]

37. Reading it is better than watching it (Yes, I spoke such heresy).

It's a good movie, but it's dated in everything from its theme to its acting and directing. Still a good film, but the book is more nuanced, layered, and complex. The movie focuses mostly on the trial and the racial tension--which is good, because there is too much in the novel to successfully translate to the movie. On the other hand, it dates the movie a little more. Harper Lee described the book as "a love story," and that's what it is, on every level, in ways you can't paraphrase. One of the most incredible literary creations ever.

[Shell Beau]

47. Most movies can never add up to the book. So with a classic, I am

definitely going to the book first. But I also have to see the movie.

[Jade Fox]

57. agree...

I find the movie rather sentimental compared to the book. The book is told from the perspective of a tough, snotty little girl who doesn't really understand the implications of the events she is living through.

[gmoney]

50. You'll love the part where the aliens land and destroy the zombies.

Ooops, sorry. **Spoiler Alert**

[jobycom]

58. Tis a far, far better butt kicking I give, than any I have given before.

[Patiod]

64. Isn't that "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

:rofl:

[Mike 03]

29. Nasty poll.

Why is it assumed that a person who creates a work of art was meant to create more than one work of art?

[jobycom]

32. How is that assumed in my poll?

:shrug:

[Mike 03]

33. Nevermind. I am voting for the obvious one, "Gone with the Wind." NT.

[Mike 03]

36. Honestly? It's fairly obvious from the list you have made, in addition

to just what has happened to several writers over the past few months that writing is a life or death thing for some writers.

That is just an opinion; feel free to ignore it.

[jobycom]

38. I think the opposite is obvious, honestly.

No idea what that statement means, any more than what your meant.

There's a freedom in only writing one book. You never have to turn it into a chore. The first book is a labor of love, the second is just labor, as they say. Sometimes the first work--or the only work--is more soulful and more honest than any later works.

It depends, too, on why they write only work. Harper Lee and Salinger didn't want to write (or publish, in Salinger's case) another novel. Toole died before he was published. Ellison worked on his second work the rest of his life, even creating fantasies of it being destroyed in a fire, possibly to assuage his guilt.

But nothing implicit or explicit in my poll implied an artist has to write more than one novel. That was your input, not mine.

[LostInAnomie]

30. Herman Melville

He wrote other books in the genre, but none that had 1/1000 the success of Moby Dick.

[jobycom]

31. Hardly a one-hit wonder. nt

[LostInAnomie]

35. Except for Typee he didn't really have any other successful books besides Moby Dick.

And Typee isn't really what you would call a block buster.

[jobycom]

40. He published eleven novels. "Billy Bud" is also considered a great work.

That's like saying the Beatles were a one hit wonder because "I am the Walrus" was so much better than everything else they did.

Melville was a successful professional writer for several year. "Moby Dick" wasn't even his most successful while he was alive, didn't become popular until decades after his death. That's not even including his short stories or poems.

[LostInAnomie]

41. No, it's like calling Chumbawamba a one hit wonder...

... because even though they may have released other albums, no one has fucking heard of them. Obviously your idea of "successful" and mine are two different things. My view means that someone actually has read or heard of the works.

Billy Budd wasn't even finished when Melville died.

[jobycom]

44. Eleven novels. Three successful during his life. One best seller. Two literary classics.

Not to mention at least one classic short story, and several poems considered noteworthy. Melville is considered one of the first modern novelists and first modernist poets.

Just because most people remember only one of them now--and not even one of his successful novels while he was alive--doesn't mean the others don't exist.

[siligut]

34. I went with the Bronte sisters. Elitism thy name is literature.

[Bucky]

39. John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces

Brilliant, tortured, and published 11 years after the author's suicide. You don't get any one hit wonderer than that.

[KamaAina]

43. Technically not a one-hit wonder

His first novel, written at age 16 (!!), "The Neon Bible" was also published posthumously.

But I voted Dunces anyway, seeing as how I used to post on a NOLA rebuilding board as "Ignatius J. Reilly".

[jobycom]

45. Hm, tricky point.

He never tried to have "The Neon Bible" published, didn't want it published, and didn't consider it publishable. It was a kid's work. So does that count? I don't know--it's kind of like finding old Beatles recordings from the Hamburg clubs and claiming they are Beatles songs...

[triguy46]

46. I just know there will be a good follow up to "Confederacy of Dunces"

Kind of hard to be more than a one hit wonder given certain circumstances.

[gmoney]

51. Well, Neon Bible kind of sucked (eom)

[Deep13]

52. Frankenstein. The first modern novel.

[LynneSin]

53. I'm starting to think Arthur Golden is going to be a 1-hit with "Memoir of a Geisha"

I absolutely adore that book but I don't think the guy has anything in the can for future books.

[Moondog]

54. "The Diary of a Young Girl" a/k/a "The Diary of Anne Frank".

[Jade Fox]

55. Uncle Tom's Cabin....

I'm not sure what else the author wrote, but that one changed a country.

[Enrique]

56. Juan Rulfo

his only novel was the teeny little one "Pedro Paramo".

[Zomby Woof]

59. Don Quixote

Cervantes invented the novel with his masterpiece.

[last_texas_dem]

60. Salinger

I voted for Salinger, just 'cause Catcher is one of my favorite books of all-time, but I've read most of his short stories and love most of them, too. Wuthering Heights is a favorite of mine, too, though...

[Rhiannon12866]

62. Catcher in the Rye, hands down.

First read it in high school, and several time since. It may be somewhat dated, but the story is timeless. :toast: