Winston Churchill was a widely-read writer. In 1953, he won the Nobel Prize for his many published works, most notably his six-volume work “The Second World War.” 1)
William Herschel, the Englishman who discovered Uranus and its first moons, was patriotic about naming. He named Uranus itself George's Star, but the name was later changed. The moons were left with names from the works of Shakespeare and a Pope. 2)
Irishman George Bernard Shaw was the first person to receive both the Academy Award and the Nobel Prize. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1938. 3)
Women played an important role in Balzac's life. He loved for many years and in 1850 married a Polish woman, Ewelina Hańska, in Berdyczów. In his novels, changing the previous literary fashion, he portrayed mature women — that is, women over thirty. This gave rise to the term “Balzacian woman”, derived from the title of Balzac's novel “The Woman of Thirty.” 4)
The author's first name “Phillip” comes from the Greek “Philippos” meaning literally “horse-loving;” while Dick in German means “fat.” Horselover Fat is the main character of the novel Valis by Philip K. Dick, the author's alter ego. In the novel Valis, which is his quasi-biography, Dick appears twice: as Phil, a well-known science fiction author, and as Horselover Fat, suffering from depression and possessed of suicidal mania. 5)
Franz Kafka published only collections of short stories and some single stories during his lifetime. The novels published posthumously were a violation of his last will. Kafka asked his friend and later biographer Max Brod to destroy his unfinished works. Thanks to the fact that Brod did not carry out this order today we can know “The Trial” or “The Castle.” The writer was engaged three times but never married. 6)
James Patterson is the world's richest writer. In 33 years he has written 70 novels, 51 of which reached the bestseller list. He publishes in 38 languages in 100 countries around the world. It is no secret that many of them Patterson does not write himself, but with the help of ghostwriters. The American merely brands the books with his name. 7)
Stephen King is an icon of world horror. One day, after a surgical procedure, his wife saw him in a pool of blood. The writer allowed himself to be taken to the hospital only after finishing a chapter. 8)
Charles Dickens was an animal lover, especially of ravens. He owned dogs of many breeds, a canary, a beagle, and a female cat that could sense her keeper's fatigue and would snuff out a candle with her paw when the keeper finished his work. 9)
Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death by firing squad in 1849 for belonging to an illegal organization. Before the execution itself, the tsar changed his sentence to exile and military service. Like the hero of the book “The Idiot,” Dostoevsky suffered from epilepsy. 10)
Julian Tuwim Polish poet, suffered from agoraphobia, or fear of being in the open. The fear was so great that if Tuwim had to get somewhere, he usually moved by cab to the door of the building. Tuwim had a birthmark on his left cheek. Complexes because of this made him only allow photos of his right profile to be taken. 11)
Ernest Hemingway was wounded at the front in 1918. He underwent 12 operations, during which several hundred pieces of shrapnel were removed from his body. Recuperation in the hospital lasted several months. 12)
Dan Brown began his career as a pop artist. His first musical work was a children's recording with synthesizer sounds. The cassette with the hits “Happy frogs” and “Suzuki Elephants” sold only a few hundred copies. In 1991 Brown moved to Hollywood and recorded an album called “Angels and Demons,” which did not gain popularity. He achieved greater fame with his books “Inferno. “The Leonardo da Vinci Code,” “Angels and Demons”. 13)
The publisher paid Alexander Dumas for every word he wrote. 14)
Jane Austen had a weakness for cheese toast. Anyone who would like to know the recipe for making them has a unique opportunity thanks to notes left by the writer's friend Martha Lloyd. 15)
Every year on June 16, Bloomsday, a holiday in honor of James Joyce is celebrated around the world and especially in Dublin. On that day, Irish hat maker John Shevlin is very busy. After all, thanks to a striking resemblance, for years he has had the role of impersonating the author of “Ulysses.” 16)
Evelyn Waugh was a man of eccentric interests and a bit of an original. One of the tangible proofs of his unusual fascinations is the so-called “Victorian Book of Blood,” an album of illustrations that are at once horrifying and beautiful. 17)