Bram Stoker

Abraham “Bram” Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving, and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.

Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland.^[1] His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876) from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), who was raised in County Sligo.^[2] Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Bt..^[3] Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there,^[4] and Abraham was a senior civil servant.

Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, “I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years.” He was educated in a private school run by the Rev. William Woods.^[5]

After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete (he was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports) at Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a BA in 1870, and purchased his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating “with honours in mathematics,” this appears to have been a mistake.^[6] He was auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist) and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society. Abraham “Bram” Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving, and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer, who created the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and more than fifty short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. One of Doyle’s early short stories, “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement“, helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle

Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was a British science fiction writer, science writer and futurist,^[3] inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.

He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the most influential films of all time.^[4][5] Clarke was a science writer who was an avid populariser of space travel and a futurist of uncanny ability. He wrote over a dozen books and many essays for popular magazines. In 1961 he received the Kalinga Prize, a UNESCO award for popularising science. Clarke’s science and science fiction writings earned him the moniker “Prophet of the Space Age”.^[6] His science fiction earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership made him one of the towering figures of science fiction. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov were known as the “Big Three” of science fiction.^[7]

Clarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel. In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the British Interplanetary Society. In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits.^[8] He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946–1947 and again in 1951–1953.^[9]

Clarke emigrated from England to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving.^[10] That year he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. Clarke augmented his popularity in the 1980s, as the host of television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death.^[11]

Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 “for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka”.^[12] He was knighted in 1998^[13][14] and was awarded Sri Lanka’s highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005.^[15]

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke, is seen at his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 9, 2007.

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens (/ˈdɪkɪnz/; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.^[1] His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today.^[2][3]

Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens’s literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.^[4][5] Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense.^[6] The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience’s reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback.^[5] For example, when his wife’s chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features.^[7] His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives.^[8] Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha’pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.^[9]
His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities (set in London and Paris) is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised by many of his fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell, G. K. Chesterton, and Tom Wolfe—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. However, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of sentimentalism.

The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.^[10]

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

Christopher Moore

“Christopher Moore is the author of fifteen novels, including the international bestsellers, Lamb, A Dirty Job and You Suck. His lastest novel, Secondhand Souls, will be released in August 2015.

Chris was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. His father was a highway patrolman and his mother sold major appliances at a department store. He attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. He moved to California when he was 19 years old and lived on the Central Coast until 2003, when he moved to Hawaii.

Before publishing his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, he worked as a roofer, a grocery clerk, a hotel night auditor, and insurance broker, a waiter, a photographer, and a rock and roll DJ. Chris has drawn on all of these work experiences to create the characters in his books. When he’s not writing, Chris enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, photography, and painting with acrylics and oils. He lives in San Francisco.”

From: https://www.chrismoore.com/biography/

“Christopher Moore (born January 1, 1957)^[1] is an American writer of comic fantasy. He was born in Toledo, Ohio.^[1][2] He grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California.
An only child, Moore learned to amuse himself with his imagination.^[3] He loved reading and his father brought him plenty of books from the library every week. He started writing around the age of twelve and realized that this was his talent by the time he was 16, and he began to consider making it his career.^[4]
Moore’s novels typically involve conflicted everyman characters struggling through supernatural or extraordinary circumstances. With the possible exceptions of Fool, The Serpent of Venice, and Sacré Bleu, all his books take place in the same universe and some characters recur from novel to novel.
According to his interview in the June 2007 issue of Writer’s Digest, the film rights to Moore’s first novel, Practical Demonkeeping (1992), were purchased by Disney even before the book had a publisher. In answer to repeated questions from fans over the years, Moore stated that all of his books have been optioned or sold for films, but that as yet “none of them are in any danger of being made into a movie.”^[5]
Moore has named Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, John Steinbeck, Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan, Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe and Ian Fleming as key influences on his writing.^[6][7][8]
As of June 2006, Moore has been living in San Francisco, after a few years on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. ”

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Moore_(author)

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The Illuminatus! Trilogy

The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975.^[1] The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magic-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both historical and imaginary, related to the authors’ version of the Illuminati. The narrative often switches between third- and first-person perspectives in a nonlinear narrative. It is thematically dense, covering topics like counterculture, numerology, and Discordianism.

The trilogy comprises three parts which contain five books and appendices: The Eye in the Pyramid (first two books), The Golden Apple (third and part of fourth book), Leviathan (part of fourth and all of fifth book, and the appendices). The parts were first published as three separate volumes starting in September 1975. In 1984 they were published as an omnibus edition and are now more commonly reprinted in the latter form.

In 1986 the trilogy won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, designed to honor libertarian science fiction.^[2]

The authors went on to write several works, both fiction and nonfiction, that dealt further with the themes of the trilogy, but they did not write any direct sequels.^{[further explanation needed]}

Illuminatus! has been adapted for the stage, as an audio book and has influenced several modern writers, artists, musicians, and games-makers. The popularity of the word “fnord” and the 23 enigma can both be attributed to the trilogy.

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy

The Iron Heel

The Iron Heel is a dystopian^[1] novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908.^[2]

Generally considered to be “the earliest of the modern dystopian” fiction,^[3] it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. In The Iron Heel, Jack London’s socialist views are explicitly on display. A forerunner of soft science fiction novels and stories of the 1960s and ’70s, the book stresses future changes in society and politics while paying much less attention to technological changes.^{[citation needed]}

The book is unusual among London’s writings (and in the literature of the time in general) in being a first-person narrative of a woman protagonist written by a man. Much of the narrative is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, including events in San Francisco and Sonoma County.

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Heel

It Can’t Happen Here

It Can’t Happen Here is a semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis,^[1] and a 1936 play adapted from the novel by Lewis and John C. Moffitt.^[2]

The novel was published during the heyday of fascism in Europe, which was reported on by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis’s wife.^[3] The novel describes the rise of Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and “traditional” values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of European fascists like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. The novel’s plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup’s opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.

Reviewers at the time,^[4] and historians and literary critics ever since, have emphasized the resemblance with Louisiana politician Huey Long—who used strong-arm political tactics and who was building a nationwide “Share Our Wealth” organization in preparing to run for president in the 1936 election. He was assassinated in 1935 just prior to the novel’s publication.^[5][6][7][8]

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here

Robert Anton Wilson

Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, novelist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized by Discordianism as an Episkopos, Pope, and saint, Wilson helped publicize the group through his writings and interviews.

Wilson described his work as an “attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth”.^[1] His goal being “to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything.”^[2]

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950),^[1] better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.^[2][3][4]

As a writer, Orwell produced literary criticism and poetry, fiction and polemical journalism; and is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked George Orwell second among “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”.^[5]

Orwell’s work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective “Orwellian” – describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices – is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as “Big Brother“, “Thought Police“, and “Hate week“, “Room 101“, the “memory hole“, and “Newspeak“, “doublethink” and “proles“, “unperson” and “thoughtcrime“.^[6][7]

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell