# "One-Shot" Great Authors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418 "2003-09-03T22:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/21 "2003-09-04T06:32:38Z")
An earlier thread on this subject: [Single novel authors](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&threadid=87733) ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/22 "2003-09-04T06:33:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rmbnxs \* > \*\*…Nobody has mentioned Ralph Ellison’s _Invisible Man_. \*\* I take that back. Sorry, RealityChuck. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/23 "2003-09-04T07:27:47Z")
_In the Memory of the Forest_ was the only novel by Charles T. Powers. Robert E. Howard creator of Conan which featured in the pulps only wrote one novel in his life _Conan the Conqueror_. Tennesee Williams only wrote one novel _The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone_ Anne Rule of true crime fame wrote one novel _Possession_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/24 "2003-09-04T08:14:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*Of course, if you go back far enough you’ll run into Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_ and Bram Stroker’s _Dracula_. \*\* I know Stoker did other novels, and I was under the impression Shelly wrote a novel called “The Last Man”(which I tried to read but couldn’t get into it). ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/25 "2003-09-04T11:35:49Z")
Sylvia Plath produced one novel, The Bell Jar, as well as some children’s stories and, of course, poems. Depending on your definitions, Nathanael West arguably only produced one novel, The Day of the Locust, although he produced 3 works that might be classed as novellas. His collected works is a single volume less than 500 pages long. Edith Sitwell, though a prolific poet and non-fiction writer, produced only one novel, I Live Under a Black Sun. I believe Emily Bronte’s brother Branwell wrote only one novel, Harriet Dark, not published until long after his death (he was also a poet, journal-keeper and short story writer, and died very young). Neither of these works are considered classics, however. I think finding people who produced one novel and no other work (stories, plays, or poems) is going to be very difficult; Emily Bronte was also an accomplished poet, and most of the authors named above had short stories published. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/26 "2003-09-04T12:45:02Z")
A bit off-topic, but did Meredith Willson ever do anything after “The Music Man”? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/27 "2003-09-04T13:08:25Z")
H. P. Saint wrote one of the best first novels “Memoirs of an Invisible Man.” Nothing else. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/28 "2003-09-04T13:10:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by postcards \* > \*\*A bit off-topic, but did Meredith Willson ever do anything after “The Music Man”? \*\* [http://musicals.eur.com/title-f.cfm?Alph=M](http://musicals.eur.com/title-f.cfm?Alph=M) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/29 "2003-09-04T14:42:29Z")
**Locus** has been giving awards to the best first novel since around 1981; quite a few of those on those lists were never heard from again. A check includes names like David Mace, Jerry Yulsman, Kirk Mitchell, Pat O’Shea, Deborah Turner Harris, Robert R. Chase, Aldia Van Gores, Randall Boyll, Zora Greenhalgh, and John Brizzolara. Some of these may have published other novels, but the names are unfamiliar. There are probably thousands of writers who published one novel and nothing else. Of course, most had no critical acclaim or enough sales to warrant another. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/30 "2003-09-04T15:28:38Z")
Carson McCullers “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” Mordecai Roshwald “Level 7” ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/31 "2003-09-04T16:06:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nametag \* > **Cordwainer Smith’s _Norstrilia_ comes to mind – if you think it’s great, anyway.** I’m not sure any of Smith’s works would qualify as full-fledged novels. According to [this source](http://www.catch22.com/SF/ARB/), _Norstrilia_ was originally published as 2 shorts. But if you’re looking for “off-the-beaten-path” sf/fantasy, he’s definitely worth reading. BTW, **Nametag** , I have a cat named C’Mell. You might be one of the few who would recognize the origin of her name. ---
**Author:** ![coyasicanbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@coyasicanbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coyasicanbe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/32 "2003-09-04T16:53:17Z")
Charles Frazier and “Cold Mountain”. Of course, it took him about 10 years to write that one, so a new one should be coming out, oh…in about 3 or 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/33 "2003-09-04T17:14:57Z")
I’m know William Peter Blatty wrote other novels, but he might as well have stopped after ‘The Exorcist.’ ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/34 "2003-09-04T17:20:59Z")
Did Daniel Keyes write anything besides _Flowers for Algernon_? If you want to go _way_ back, I guess you could say Jonathan Swift, for _Gulliver’s Travels_—wasn’t that his only novel? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/35 "2003-09-04T17:32:25Z")
I know Daniel Keyes wrote at least one other novel, but durned if I can remember what its name was. I’m amazed no one has mentioned H.P. Lovecraft, though, who published one novel – “At The Mountains Of Madness.” His other novel, “The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward,” wasn’t published until well after his death. I understand that “Norstrilia” was originally published in two parts, and that it got edited somewhat for publication as a novel. In Cordwainer Smith’s case (Dr. Paul Linebarger, actually), he might well have written tons more stuff, but he went and died rather unexpectedly. Damn shame, too – he was quite good. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/36 "2003-09-04T18:12:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stephe96 \* > \*\*I’m know William Peter Blatty wrote other novels, but he might as well have stopped after ‘The Exorcist.’ \*\* And even before “The Excorcist,” he wrote “John Goldfaarb, Please Come Home,” upon which a classic mid-60s movie was made. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/37 "2003-09-04T18:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker \* > \*\*And even before “The Excorcist,” he wrote “John Goldfaarb, Please Come Home,” upon which a classic mid-60s movie was made. \*\* Oh. Yeah. That one. Not _quite_ ‘The Exorcist,’ though…don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/38 "2003-09-04T18:48:09Z")
Daniel Keyes did several other novels, including _The Fifth Sally_ and _The Touch_. As for Cordwainer Smith, the two short novels were taken from one larger original manuscript and then later recombined into a proper novel. Sherman Edwards won a Tony for doing the music and lyrics for one of my favorite plays, _1776_ yet I don’t believe he ever did another Broadway play to follow it up. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/39 "2003-09-04T18:53:30Z")
As posters have already noted, the authors cited generally wrote a good deal in forms other than the novel. Margaret Mitchell was a newspaper reporter, for instance. Oscar Wilde, though a prolific author, wrote only one novel: **The Picture of Dorian Gray**. Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel is **The Narrative of H. Gordon Pym**. Nicolai Gogol’s only novel was **Dead Souls, Part I**. Despite the title, it is a very funny book. It is also complete. He wrote a “further adventures” sequel called \*\*Dead Souls, Part II \*\*, but he became dissatisfied with it and burned the manuscript, resolving to start over fresh. A few days later he was killed in an accident. Charles Fort wrote a novel which, so far as I know, is still unpublished. Among other things, it concerns a man who publishes a mail order catalog but carries no inventory. Whenever he receives an order, he simply goes out and buys an item at retail and then marks up the price. (I once worked for a manufacturing company which sometimes did something similar. It would contract to supply parts to larger manufacturers. Then it would place an order with a machine shop across town and, when the pieces arrived, we would put them in our own cartons and jack up the price.) With the possible exception of Ed Wood, Jr., Carrol Borland was Bela Lugosi’s number one fan. She played Luna, the female vampire, in **Mark of the Vampire**. As a teenager she wrote a novel called **Countess Dracula** after seeing Lugosi on stage. Nearly 65 years later it was finally published, coming out just after she died. **"…And the Ladies of the Club"** was not the author’s first novel. Rather, it was first one she had finished in many decades. Former First Lady Barbara Bush, speaking with reference to National Library Week, once said that as a girl she read “any novel by Emily Bronte she could get her hands on”. This piqued the interest of the staff at **Spy** Magazine, so they asked what her favorite Emily Bronte novel hasd been. A spokeswoman for Mrs. Bush said that it was **Wuthering Heights**. And her second favorite was **Jane Eyre**. What should or should not be classified as a novel can be argued endlessly. FOr whatever it’s worth, though, Cordwainer Smith’s book **The Planet Seller** was nominated for a “best novel” award when it was first published. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418/40 "2003-09-04T18:56:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thudlow Boink \* > \*\*Did Daniel Keyes write anything besides _Flowers for Algernon_? > > If you want to go _way_ back, I guess you could say Jonathan Swift, for _Gulliver’s Travels_—wasn’t that his only novel? \*\* He did write \* The Minds of Billy Millgan \*\*, which \*\* I \*\* consider a work of fiction and/or total bullshit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-shot-great-authors/199418.md?page=3)