Mystery Author # 67

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #1 05-29-2002, 05:07 PM

This author writes stuff. The stuff that the author writes gets printed up. Readers read it.

Hint: The author's name is not "Beach."

Have at it.

quasar · #2 05-29-2002, 05:38 PM

Is the author male?
Alive?
Born in the US?
Write fiction?
poetry?
non-fiction?
plays?

Janice

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #3 05-29-2002, 05:55 PM

Is the author male? Yes
Alive? Alive and well
Born in the US? Nope
Write fiction? Yes
poetry? See what you learn by playing this game -- I would have answered, "No, he doesn't write poetry or plays," but then I looked at a biography and found that he did, indeed, write both as a young man.
non-fiction? Yes.
plays? See answer to poetry, above. I think it's safe to say that this writer is not usually thought of as a poet or a playwright.

Another one for the "you learn something new every day" file -- while looking for biographical information on the web, I found out that the author dislikes revealing too much about himself, and that the bio notes on his books have gotten progressively shorter over time.

theeye · #4 05-29-2002, 06:06 PM

Was the author born in Europe?

Does the author write primarily in English?

Has he written novels?

Short stories?

Is he particularly well-known for writing in a specific genre?

Is his non-fiction largely in the form of essays?

Have any of his books (fiction or non-fiction) hit the best-seller lists (an educated guess will suffice if you're not sure)?

quasar · #5 05-29-2002, 06:07 PM

I know exactly what you mean. One of the reasons I love this game is getting to know more about some of my favorite authors. Some folks have done a lot more than I ever knew and it's interesting to learn all about it.

Was he born in Europe?
Asia?
Does he write in English?
Is his fiction more well known than his non-fiction?
Does he write mainly in one specific genre of fiction?

Janice

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #6 05-29-2002, 06:38 PM

Was the author born in Europe? Yes

Does the author write primarily in English? No

Has he written novels? Yes

Short stories? Yes

Is he particularly well-known for writing in a specific genre? No. I guess you could say he's sort of a genre unto himself.

Is his non-fiction largely in the form of essays? Yes

Have any of his books (fiction or non-fiction) hit the best-seller lists (an educated guess will suffice if you're not sure)? My educated guess would be "no," but I'm curious, so hang on while I do a little web search ... Hmmm, my educated guess may have been wrong. It's not real clear, but it looks as if at least one of his books was, indeed, a best-seller.

Was he born in Europe? Great minds think alike, and ask the same questions simultaneously
Asia? no
Does he write in English? I don't think so.
Is his fiction more well known than his non-fiction?Yes.
Does he write mainly in one specific genre of fiction?Great minds think alike ...

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #7 05-29-2002, 07:09 PM

Correction: I just pulled a copy of one of his books off of my shelf, and there, right on the front cover, it says "New York Times Bestseller." Heh. This was not, by the way, the book I had in mind when I said above that "at least one" of his books was a bestseller. So it looks as if at least two were bestsellers.

Note on the language question: The answer to the question "Does he write primarily in English" is a clear "No." The answer to the similar, but not identical question, "Does he write in English," if taken in the sense of has he ever written in English, is I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. This is not a totally trivial disgression, because the author's choice of language is something that has been seen as noteworthy among people who have followed this author's career.

quasar · #8 05-29-2002, 07:58 PM

Does he write in Spanish?
French?
Has he written more than 10 books?
Has he written a book in the last three years?

Janice

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #9 05-29-2002, 08:34 PM

[/b]Does he write in Spanish? No

French? He is currently writing in French

Has he written more than 10 books? Educated guess: He's written approximately 10 books.

Has he written a book in the last three years? Hmm ... the last book published in (i.e. translated into) English, that I could find, was published four years ago. There is a new book that was apparently published for the first time last year, even though it was written or started or something in the 1980s, but so far the book has only been translated into Spanish, Castilian, and German (???)

So much for web searching. What I can say with certainty is that I very recently read a new story of his in a magazine -- in fact, that's why this author is on my mind at the moment.

Perhaps he's working on a story collection?????

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #10 05-30-2002, 01:49 AM

Addendum: I just ran across a little bio sketch that said he has a new novel coming out in October. (This is apparently the same book I mentioned above, the one that's already out in Spanish, etc.) The sketch also said that including the new book, he's written nine novels. So I think that puts his total book output somewhere around 11-ish.

I would be more excited about the new novel if I didn't feel that his recent stuff has been kind of going downhill.

theeye · #11 05-30-2002, 08:55 AM

So his choice of language is noteworthy.

Was he born in France?
Was he born in an English-speaking country?
Was he born in a French-speaking country?

Does he live in France?
Does he live in an English-speaking country?
Does he live in a French-speaking country?

theeye · #12 05-30-2002, 08:55 AM

For that matter, does he now live in Europe?

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #13 05-30-2002, 04:25 PM

So his choice of language is noteworthy.

Was he born in France? No
Was he born in an English-speaking country? No
Was he born in a French-speaking country? No

Does he live in France? Yes
Does he live in an English-speaking country? No
Does he live in a French-speaking country? Yes.

For that matter, does he now live in Europe? Yes

theeye · #14 05-31-2002, 12:41 AM

Was he born in Germany?
In Italy?
In Scandinavia?
In Eastern Europe?

Are his books typically funny?
Do they contain significant political content or subtext?

Is he considered controversial?

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #15 05-31-2002, 05:58 AM

Was he born in Germany? No
In Italy? No
In Scandinavia? No
In Eastern Europe? Yes, that's it

Are his books typically funny? Not in the way that, say, a stand-up comedian is funny
Do they contain significant political content or subtext? Yes

Is he considered controversial? The government of his original country banned his books, fired him from his job, and eventually stripped him of his citizenship.

By the way, when I said earlier that I thought his work has been going downhill, I had that feeling mostly because of the last novel of his that I had read, which was a huge disappointment -- pretty awful, in fact. But the new story that I read recently was good, and I'm crossing my fingers that that one awful novel may have been an aberration, and that maybe the new one that's coming out soon will be as good as his earlier books, which were wonderful.

theeye · #16 05-31-2002, 01:48 PM

Wow. Ok, that ought to be enough information to figure out who he is. Or it would be if I had ever heard of him, which I suspect I have not.

Was he born in what was at the time the Soviet Union?
Did he leave his original country more recently than 1975?
Was he born more recently than 1945?

eplovejoy · #17 05-31-2002, 03:21 PM

If not the Soviet Union, was he born in East Germany?

Poland?

Has he won a Nobel Prize?

Have any of his novels been adapted into movies?

If so, beach movies?

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #18 05-31-2002, 06:37 PM

Wow. Ok, that ought to be enough information to figure out who he is. Or it would be if I had ever heard of him, which I suspect I have not.

My guess is that even if the details of this author's life don't ring a bell, you still will probably recognize the name -- and even if should turn out that you don't recognize the name, I think you would be likely to recognize one of his titles because it was made into a ... oops, now I'm giving away too much. We should wait until someone asks the question. But the wait won't be very long ...

Was he born in what was at the time the Soviet Union? No

Did he leave his original country more recently than 1975? Ah .. it was 1975 exactly when he left.

Was he born more recently than 1945? No

If not the Soviet Union, was he born in East Germany? No

Poland? No

Has he won a Nobel Prize? No, but he's been described as a "perennial also-ran"

Have any of his novels been adapted into movies? And Peter comes to the rescue. See, I told y'all you wouldn't have to wait long for this question to appear. The answer is that yes, one of his novels was made into a fairly well-known American movie.

If so, beach movies? Very funny.

quasar · #19 05-31-2002, 07:56 PM

Was the movie nominated for any Oscars?
Did it win any?
Is it a drama?

Janice

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #20 05-31-2002, 08:30 PM

Was the movie nominated for any Oscars? It was nominated for two, but ...

Did it win any? ... it didn't win any.

Is it a drama? Yes

By the way, I wouldn't be totally shocked if some of you have read the recent story (that was in a magazine) that I mentioned earlier. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked either way -- I certainly wouldn't be shocked if no one had read it, but I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out that one or more of you had.

Note on the author's country of origin, which I said was in Eastern Europe -- I'm not too good on geography, to put it mildly, and I think the country is considered part of Eastern Europe, but maybe it might be considered part of Central Europe???? In any case, the country of origin is an important aspect of what this writer is about.

Also, I was just thinking, the reason that his rather dramatic personal history doesn't ring any immediate bells might be because of the author's tendency to be reticent about giving out biographical information. I think he may also avoid interviews and other publicity, so he's not as well known as a persona as he might be if he had gotten on the publicity train.

quasar · #21 05-31-2002, 08:49 PM

Were all of his published books first published after 1975?
Was the book the movie was based on published before 1985?
Was the movie released before 1990?
Is the theme of the movie heavily related to his country of origin?

Janice

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #22 06-01-2002, 01:40 AM

Were all of his published books first published after 1975? No

Was the book the movie was based on published before 1985? Yes

Was the movie released before 1990? Yes

Is the theme of the movie heavily related to his country of origin? I would say yes, but what I remember people mostly talking about, when they talked about the movie, was its eroticism. Certainly events that happened in the author's country are a part of the film, but whether they're in the background or the foreground or somewhere in between, I couldn't say -- I haven't seen the movie. (But now that y'all reminded me about it, I think I may go rent it. I don't remember why I missed it when it came out, but it's supposed to be good.)

theeye · #23 06-02-2002, 01:59 AM

Was the author's original country a communist nation at any time?
Does the author's country of birth still exist with the same name?
Is the author's religious identity relevant to much of his writing?