# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fromage_A_Trois)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/21 "2005-06-17T12:18:35Z")
I think I’ve read Shardik, a few years ago. Maybe I just started reading it, and couldn’t make it to the end? It’s obviously a memorable book. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/22 "2005-06-17T12:28:53Z")
John Knowles is best known for _A Seperate Peace_. I’ve read \*Peace Breaks \* \*Out \* and it is nowhere near as good. ---
**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, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/23 "2005-06-17T12:41:36Z")
Name the guy who wrote the original book “Phantom of the Opera.” Name something else he wrote. Gaston LeRoux and I have absolutely no idea. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/24 "2005-06-17T12:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Name the guy who wrote the original book “Phantom of the Opera.” Name something else he wrote. > > Gaston LeRoux and I have absolutely no idea. Interesting how times and fashions change. In a poll taken in the 1930s LeRoux was listed as one of the top ten authors of weird stuff, and the favorite book was “The Yellow Room”, which is still in print from Dover. If you look in the recently re-released “The Essential Phantom of the Opera” you’ll find a complete list of his works. As for A. Merritt, the general feeling is that his stuff was _not_ formulaic – His “Seven Footsteps to Satan” is highly regarded, and “The Metal Monster” isn’t like any other story I’ve come across. But I’m not a fan – I found Moon Pool and Metal Monster heavy going, and never read any of his other stuff. Richard Adams followed Watership Down with “The Plague Dogs”, which I didn’t like all that much. Shardik was so bad that I never read anything else he wrote. How about Mitchell and **Gone With the Wind**? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/25 "2005-06-17T13:00:57Z")
> [@](#): > > How about Mitchell and Gone With the Wind? > [@](#): > > * * * > > I’m not talking about authors like Margaret Mitchell who only wrote one book, but authors who wrote several books. D’Oh! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/26 "2005-06-17T13:18:32Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > And I assume Anne Frank is out, right? Actually you can buy some of her other works, at least at her house in Amsterdam. I know she wrote some short stories, but don’t know anything about them. ---
**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, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/27 "2005-06-17T13:49:46Z")
Mary Shelly wrote “Frankenstein.” ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/28 "2005-06-17T14:35:26Z")
Charlotte Bronte, _Jane Eyre_. (Yes, some people like her second book–me not being one of them–but in general I think it is fair to say it is not considered a great classic.) Peter Beagle wrote _The Last Unicorn_, and none of his other books have been as popular. Robert Pirsig wrote _Zen and the Art of Motorcylce Maintenance_. His follow-up, _Lila_, was well recieved in many circles, but again, I think it is safe to say it did not reach the same level of popularity as the first one. Speaking strictly personally, I would also say it did not achieve anywhere near the greatness of the first, either. ---
**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, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/29 "2005-06-17T14:58:14Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > Charlotte Bronte, _Jane Eyre_. (Yes, some people like her second book–me not being one of them–but in general I think it is fair to say it is not considered a great classic.) Good call. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/30 "2005-06-17T15:10:40Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > Charlotte Bronte, _Jane Eyre_. And her sister’s **Wuthering Heights**. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/31 "2005-06-17T15:32:58Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > And her sister’s **Wuthering Heights**. Yes, but she only wrote the one book (which the OP excludes). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/32 "2005-06-17T15:36:49Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > 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. Mine sure doesn’t. In fact, I thought _ASTP_ was the best of the three. Looking back, I’m actually quite surprised at how dark the story is. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/33 "2005-06-17T15:38:04Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > Yes, but she only wrote the one book (which the OP excludes). My bad. I was thinking **Agnes Grey** was hers, but it was her sister Anne’s. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/34 "2005-06-17T16:34:00Z")
Can you name another **Stephen King** book except “The Eyes of the Dragon”? I can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/35 "2005-06-17T16:44:05Z")
L. Frank Baum wrote dozens of books, but _The Wizard of Oz_ is more popular than all the rest combined. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/36 "2005-06-17T16:58:13Z")
Fred Exley wrote the magnificent _A Fan’s Notes_–Seriously, you should read this–and two very mediocre sequels. This led Jonathan Yardley to say “There’s no shame in being a one book author.” Also I don’t know if Kingsley Amis wrote anything that came up to the level of _Lucky Jim_ ---
**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, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/37 "2005-06-17T17:09:31Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Can you name another **Stephen King** book except “The Eyes of the Dragon”? > > I can’t. Do you only read children’s books? Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Green Mile, Misery, The Shining, etc. etc. King is very prolific. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/38 "2005-06-17T17:46:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Do you only read children’s books? > > Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Green Mile, Misery, The Shining, etc. etc. King is very prolific. Those were ALL him? Who knew? Geez. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/39 "2005-06-17T17:58:37Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I’m not talking about authors like Margaret Mitchell who only wrote one book, but authors who wrote several books. > > . Ernest Hemmingway with… Never mind, He didn’t write any books that weren’t really some sort of masturbatory twaddle, or pretty much unreadable. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587/40 "2005-06-17T18:11:16Z")
Well, in the U.S., at least, “Don Quixote” is the only thing anyone reads by Cervantes. “The Jungle” is about the only thing anyone reads by Upton Sinclair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-authors-who-only-wrote-one-great-book/308587.md?page=3)