Mental Floss

AUTHORS

John Steinbeck

The author of ‘East of Eden’ and ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ was also a three-time Academy Award nominee and found an enemy in J. Edgar Hoover.

Anne Taylor








Zora Neale Hurston in a portrait by Carl Van Vechten.

Writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston’s literary legacy is a class apart. Here are some facts you might not have known about the author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Sohel Sarkar
Kazuo Ishiguro at the Hay Festival 2010.

Kazuo Ishiguro was 27 years old when he published his first novel, 1982’s ‘A Pale View of Hills.’ Since then, he has left an indelible mark on literature through works that the Nobel Prize committee described as “novels of great emotional force.”

Erin McCarthy


Thomas Hardy and his beloved English countryside.

'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' author Thomas Hardy is best known for his novels of rural realism, but he started out as an architect.

Karin Crompton




Stephen King is one of the biggest names in publishing.

Stephen King once opened the doors to his Bangor, Maine, home to Halloween trick-or-treaters in the 1980s. More than 1000 people showed up.

Jake Rossen


Portrait of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley.

Between writing 'Frankenstein' and carrying around her dead husband's heart, Mary Shelley earned her title as the original goth girl.

Michele Debczak