# Popular because they thought the Author was Someone Else **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822 "2015-03-12T12:42:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/1 "2015-03-12T12:42:51Z")
This has happened more than once. A book becomes a big seller because they thought someone else wrote it. It sometimes happens that, when the truth is learned, sales plummet. But not always. The first time I know of this happening was when John Polidori wrote **The Vampyre**. This was the outcome of that fateful summer of 1816 in which Byron, Shelley, the future Mary Shelley, Polidori, and others challenged each other to write a better scary story than those in the book _Fantasmagorie_ they were reading. Byron succeeded in writing a fragment, but Polidori actually wrote an entire story, published as The Vampyre. Everyone thought the famous poet Byron had written it, so it sold well and inspired more than one play. It did a huge amount to popularize the Vampire, and arguably started the idea of the Titled Vampire who passed as human, which resulted eventually in Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_ at the end of the century. But if people hadn’t thought that Byron had written it, arguably none of this would have happened, and Bela Lugosi would only be a footnote in theater history. (Byron’s fragment was eventually published, often as an addendum to editions of Polidori’s book) Similarly, Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_[ was published anonymously, and, if anyone was thought responsible, it was Percy Shelley, who wrote the foreword. again, being thought to be the work of a famous poet, it sold better than expected, and inspired not only a play, but also a parody play (a la _Young Frankenstein_), called “Franken-stitch”. Had this not be the case, Boris Karloff might have been a footnote to cinema history, and probably as William Henry Pratt. It happened with Samuel Butler’s _Erewhon_, his not really utopia nor quite a dystopia novel. When it first came out in 1872 it was published anonymously, but it somewhat resembled Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel _The Coming Race_ from 1871, which was also published anonymously. both books had the same red cover. People thought Erewhon was a sequel to Race, and it sold better than any of Butler’s other books. Until it was revealed months later who the author really was. Sales reportedly dropped by 90 percent after that. Finally, there’s _Venus on the Half Shell_, which was originally a wholly imaginary book supposedly written by Kilgore Trout, the science fiction author in several of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. Philip Jose Farmer reportedly talked the reluctant Vonnegut into letting him use the title and write a novel of it. When it first came out, with “Kilgore Trout” as the listed author, a lot of people thought it was really by Vonnegut. I don’t honestly know if it sold better than expected. Vonnegut was reportedly pissed, and later editions acknowledged that Farmer was the real author. Any other cases? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/2 "2015-03-12T13:42:19Z")
I’m sure some people still get the two Winston Churchills confused. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/3 "2015-03-12T13:50:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m sure some people still get the two Winston Churchills confused. I was surprised when I stumbled ac ross the “other” Winston Churchill many years ago. (and statesman Churchill wrote a letter to authot Churchill when the statesman wrote his first book, remarking about exactly this confusion. I don’t know how much confusion there may have been when both were in their heyday, but I’ll bet most people today haven’t even heard of the “other” Churchill. > [@](#): > > The British Churchill, upon becoming aware of the American Churchill’s books, wrote to him suggesting that he would sign his own works “Winston S. Churchill”, using his middle name (actually part of his full surname, “Spencer-Churchill”) to differentiate them. This suggestion was accepted, with the comment that the American Churchill would have done the same, had he any middle names.[7][8] > **[Winston Churchill (novelist)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_(novelist))** > > Winston Churchill (November 10, 1871 – March 12, 1947) was an American best-selling novelist of the early 20th century. > He is nowadays overshadowed, even as a writer, by the more famous British statesman of the same name, to whom he was not related. > Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding Churchill by his marriage to Emma Bell Blaine. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894. At the Naval Academy, he was ... See here, too: > **[The Other Churchill - The Churchill Centre](https://web.archive.org/web/20070211223602/http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=747)** > > The Churchill Centre ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/4 "2015-03-12T14:05:05Z")
A little off kilter, but I’m sure Dale Carnegie (née Carnagey) sold more copies of _How to Win Friends and Influence People_ because people thought he was somehow related to Andrew Carnegie. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/5 "2015-03-12T14:24:47Z")
Even more off-kilter (because it involves a recording artist, not an author): My (completely made up) crackpot theory about the popularity of Beck is that when he first came out a lot of people thought they were talking about _Jeff_ Beck. “Yeah! Beck’s got a new album out! Gotta grab that!” Then after finding out the truth they had to pretend they really knew and liked him to protect their “music aficionado” cred. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/6 "2015-03-12T14:36:55Z")
Keep them coming. Off-kilter is better than no kilter at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/7 "2015-03-12T15:21:48Z")
Mildly related, but I noticed when I was young that the number of big name authors with a last name beginning with A seemed to be overrepresented. Anthony Asimov Asprin etc. I think it’s possible that being right at the start of any alphabetized shelf helps to get you discovered, whereas if you’re a L, not quite as easy. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/8 "2015-03-12T15:30:48Z")
Well, not completely on par with your question, but the book **Primary Colors** was popular in part or in whole because people kept speculating on who the author was. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/9 "2015-03-12T15:55:55Z")
I imagine that Dr. Spock sold a few more books than he otherwise would have, until people caught on. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/10 "2015-03-12T16:11:10Z")
I’m not sure how it affected popularity, but there are persistent rumors that film giant Howard Hawks directed _The Thing from Another World_ instead of credited director Christian Nyby. At the time the film was made, Hawks did not have the critical reputation he later had, though I’m sure some people went back to see it on the belief that he did direct. The film does seem to match Hawks’s directing style, and he also produced, but those on the set say that while Hawks was there, Nyby actually directed. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/11 "2015-03-12T16:13:07Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I imagine that Dr. Spock sold a few more books than he otherwise would have, until people caught on. Dr Spock’s first book was published in 1946. The first season of Star Trek was 1964. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/12 "2015-03-12T16:15:18Z")
The band Klaatu never became very popular, but the record sales they DID achieve were largely due to silly, unfounded rumors that the Beatles had secretly reunited and that "Klaatu "was their new alias. The Carpenters later had a modest hit with a cover of Klaatu’s “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/13 "2015-03-12T16:23:03Z")
It reminds me of an embarrassing episode of King of Queens wherein one of the characters is disappointed upon learning that a Keaton film festival was showing Buster rather than Micheal. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/14 "2015-03-12T16:23:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Dr Spock’s first book was published in 1946. The first season of Star Trek was 1964. See, there ya go! People must’ve kept confusing 1946 with 1964! 😉 ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/15 "2015-03-12T17:03:35Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The band Klaatu never became very popular, but the record sales they DID achieve were largely due to silly, unfounded rumors that the Beatles had secretly reunited and that "Klaatu "was their new alias. > > The Carpenters later had a modest hit with a cover of Klaatu’s “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.” I wondered where the hell that song came from! It seemed so out-of-place in the Carpenters’ _oeuvre_. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/16 "2015-03-12T17:14:56Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Carpenters later had a modest hit with a cover of Klaatu’s “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.” I really liked that thing they did with The Thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/17 "2015-03-12T17:30:21Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Dr Spock’s first book was published in 1946. **The first season of Star Trek was 1964**. 1. I remember being confused when I saw the book on the shelf at the bookstore, but I was 6. It still seems to me that some people picked up the book, thinking it was by Lt. Cmdr. Spock. Then Nimoy had to muddy the waters by publishing “[I am not Spock](http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=i+am+not+spock&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=21379226695&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16433571066584960646&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_ohthfzls4_e).” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/18 "2015-03-12T17:35:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > 1. Sorry, the first pilot was filmed in 1964. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/19 "2015-03-12T17:41:45Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > 1. > > I remember being confused when I saw the book on the shelf at the bookstore, but I was 6. It still seems to me that some people picked up the book, thinking it was by Lt. Cmdr. Spock. Then Nimoy had to muddy the waters by publishing “[I am not Spock](http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=i+am+not+spock&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=21379226695&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16433571066584960646&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_ohthfzls4_e).” After that book came out, James Doohan joked that he was going to publish a book entitled **I Am Not Spock Either**. And then Nimoy muddied the waters again by publishing **I Am Spock** > **[I Am Spock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Spock)** > > I Am Spock is the second volume of actor and director Leonard Nimoy's autobiography. The book was published in 1995, four years after the release of the last Star Trek motion picture starring the entire original cast, and covers the majority of Nimoy's time with Star Trek in general and Mr. Spock in particular. The book's title was a reference to the first volume of his autobiography, I Am Not Spock, which had been published in 1975. At that time, Nimoy had sought to distance his own personality ... Why don’t they make up their minds? Maybe Dr. Benjamin Spock could’ve published _I Am Not a Baby_ to complete the cycle. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822/20 "2015-03-12T18:14:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > After that book came out, James Doohan joked that he was going to publish a book entitled **I Am Not Spock Either**. > And then Nimoy muddied the waters again by publishing **I Am Spock** > > [I Am Spock - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Spock) > Why don’t they make up their minds? I think The Simpsosn had a joke on that where Leonard Nimoy published 3 books “I am not Spock” “I am Spock” “I am also Scotty” For my contribution I wonder if people’s misattribution of certain songs lead to popularity: Horse with no name (Neil Young vs America) Always Wear Sunscreen (Vonnegut vs Lerhman) etc [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-because-they-thought-the-author-was-someone-else/714822.md?page=2)