# Famous authors who only wrote one great book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587 "2005-06-16T18:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/1 "2005-06-16T18:19:06Z")
I’m not talking about authors like Margaret Mitchell who only wrote one book, but authors who wrote several books. “Wind In The Willows” Kenneth Graham. His other two books are boring. “The Book Of The Dun Cow” By Kurt Wagner. The sequel was the most depressing book I ever read. “The Moon Pool” By A. Merritt. The rest of his books are formulalic pulp fiction. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/2 "2005-06-16T18:26:50Z")
IIRC, the opinion concerning Joseph Heller was that _Catch-22_ was his one great book. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/3 "2005-06-16T21:22:33Z")
_To Kill a Mockingbird_–Harper Lee _The Catcher in the Rye_–J. D. Salinger _A Confederacy of Dunces_–John Kennedy Toole ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/4 "2005-06-16T21:50:56Z")
I’ve never read anything else by Bram Stoker that was anywhere _near_ as good as _Dracula_. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/5 "2005-06-16T22:12:35Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > _To Kill a Mockingbird_–Harper Lee > [ Leading to the persistent suggestions that Truman Capote was the actual author. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/6 "2005-06-16T23:37:30Z")
> [@Rube E. Tewesday](#): > > Leading to the persistent suggestions that Truman Capote was the actual author. which is pretty funny, since his first book - Other Voices Other Rooms - is basically set in the same place with many of the same characters, but a completely different view of the situation. Capote’s character is the central one and completely saddened and confused at being left in their weird town and basically abandoned. Nothing like the Capote character Dil in Mockingbird… ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/7 "2005-06-16T23:53:17Z")
[QUOTE=furryman] I’m not talking about authors like Margaret Mitchell who only wrote one book, but authors who wrote several books. QUOTE] Actually, she wrote at least 2 other books - “Lost Laysen,” and “Margaret Mitchell, Reporter.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/8 "2005-06-16T23:54:58Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > “The Book Of The Dun Cow” By Kurt Wagner. The sequel was the most depressing book I ever read. That would be Walter Wangerin. He has several other books that have received 4-5 star ratings on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) (including the sequel you mentioned, _The Book of Sorrows_), but of course that doesn’t mean they’re “great.” How about James Barrie—didn’t he write other stuff besides _Peter Pan_? Didn’t Mary Shelley write other (forgettable) stuff besides _Frankenstein_? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/9 "2005-06-17T03:55:57Z")
Walter Miller, Jr. “A Canticle for Leibowitz” Mordecai Roshwald “Level 7” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/10 "2005-06-17T04:27:55Z")
Mary Karr’s _Liar’s Club_ has been highly acclaimed as a great novel about childhood years. She then wrote a sequil dealing with teenage life, _Cherry_, that that was nowhere near the quality of her first book. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/11 "2005-06-17T04:30:15Z")
Has Madeline L’Engle written anything of fame other than A Wrinkle in Time? And I assume Anne Frank is out, right? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/12 "2005-06-17T04:30:16Z")
Ralph Ellison is known only for _Invisible Man_. I wasn’t sure he even wrote anything else - apparently that was the only one of his novels published during his lifetime, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/13 "2005-06-17T08:58:40Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > And I assume Anne Frank is out, right? BWAHAHA! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/14 "2005-06-17T09:31:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ralph Ellison is known only for _Invisible Man_. I wasn’t sure he even wrote anything else - apparently that was the only one of his novels published during his lifetime, though. Ellison’s _Shadow and Act_ is listed as one of The Modern Library Board’s _100 Best English-Language Nonfiction of the 20th Century_. ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/15 "2005-06-17T11:36:26Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > IIRC, the opinion concerning Joseph Heller was that _Catch-22_ was his one great book. I’ve never agreed with, but often heard, that opinion. IMHO his second novel “Something Happened” is actually better than Catch 22. I also really enjoyed the Catch 22 follow-up which I think was called “Closing Time” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/16 "2005-06-17T12:00:58Z")
Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/17 "2005-06-17T12:06:28Z")
Some Kesey fans prefer _Sometimes A Great Notion_. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/18 "2005-06-17T12:08:45Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Has Madeline L’Engle written anything of fame other than A Wrinkle in Time? Madeleine L’Engle actually wrote a couple different series about the characters in _A Wrinkle in Time_ and their children. She’s also written a few books on faith. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/19 "2005-06-17T12:09:40Z")
I love Richard Adams’ Watership Down, but after reading Girl in a Swing\*, I can’t bring myself to try Shardik. \*sucked ASS. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/20 "2005-06-17T12:17:59Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Has Madeline L’Engle written anything of fame other than A Wrinkle in Time Well, as for me, I found the sequels _(A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet)_ just as fascinating as the first. Your mileage may vary, of course. Have any of Miguel Cervantes’ other works (besides _Don Quixote)_ lasted the test of time? Also, how about the original _MASH,_ written by Richard Hooker (which IIRC is a pen name)? I think that the original author wrote one or two direct sequels _(MASH Goes to Maine, MASHmania),_ after which a bunch more that were based on the TV show had his name on them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587.md?page=2)