# Prolific authors who have faded into obscurity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439 "2014-11-23T21:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [November 24, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/21 "2014-11-24T01:16:59Z")
[Dan Ross](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ross_(novelist)) I saw him on Letterman one night back in the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/22 "2014-11-24T01:37:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Do you know anybody under the age of 60 who has read it? Or over 60 who read it for the first time within the last 30 years? It is as dead as its author. “Valley of the Dolls” was out of print for about 25 years, but was re-issued in the mid 1990s. (I don’t know if the re-issue is still in print.) I did actually _try_ to read it, but it seemed like the single-most aimless, pointless, go-nowhere story I ever read. It just dawdled along, banal conversation after banal conversation. It seemed like watching a daytime soap opera from the same time period. I couldn’t finish it, and decided there was a reason this went out of print for so long. I would say the archetypal “forgotten author” would be Grace Metalious, author of “Peyton Place.” For actually good, decent readable authors, I would suggest [John Gardner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gardner_(American_writer)). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/23 "2014-11-24T02:24:26Z")
Robert W. Chambers. Wrote a bunch of best sellers in the first three decades of the 20th Century. Today, only some horror fans remember him for “The Yellow Sign” and _The King in Yellow._ Thorne Smith would be another. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/24 "2014-11-24T02:31:24Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Yes, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s famous, he would be forgotten. Name any book title by him, or for that matter, any of the seven other pen names he wrote under. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/25 "2014-11-24T03:10:55Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Name any book title by him, or for that matter, any of the seven other pen names he wrote under. Nope, sorry, the thread is “prolific authors who have faded into obscurity,” not “prolific authors who have faded into obscurity _except for their most popular series of books_.” Checking Amazon, I see that there are dozens of Perry Mason novels available in Kindle format, and most of them have double-digit numbers of customer reviews. Not to mention that his name remains alive and well in crossword puzzles. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/26 "2014-11-24T03:12:36Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Robert W. Chambers. Wrote a bunch of best sellers in the first three decades of the 20th Century. Today, only some horror fans remember him for “The Yellow Sign” and _The King in Yellow._ > > Thorne Smith would be another. I agree that Thorne Smith is pretty much forgotten by most folks, but older folks and movie and TV buffs would instantly recognize “Topper”. Smith’s books were reprinted in the mid-1980s in paperback, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/27 "2014-11-24T03:26:22Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Robert W. Chambers. Wrote a bunch of best sellers in the first three decades of the 20th Century. Today, only some horror fans remember him for “The Yellow Sign” and _The King in Yellow._ Not so obscure. The King in Yellow was the #7 top-seller at Amazon earlier this year (no doubt due to the fact that it was featured as a plot-point on **True Detective** ). ---
**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:** [November 24, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/28 "2014-11-24T04:31:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Nope, sorry, the thread is “prolific authors who have faded into obscurity,” not “prolific authors who have faded into obscurity _except for their most popular series of books_.” Checking Amazon, I see that there are dozens of Perry Mason novels available in Kindle format, and most of them have double-digit numbers of customer reviews. > > Not to mention that his name remains alive and well in crossword puzzles. Not to mention that had he never written The Case of the Velvet Claws, The Case of the Crooked Candle, etc. he may have been better known for the Lam-Cool mysteries, with such titles as Fish or Cut Bait and Shills Can’t Cash Chips, written under the name A.A. Fair. I have copies of most of the books in both series. I’d nominate Walter Gibson, who wrote the majority of the Shadow pulps under the name Maxwell Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/29 "2014-11-24T04:45:40Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Name any book title by him, or for that matter, any of the seven other pen names he wrote under. Perry Mason In the Case of the Aimless Socialite. (Or Equivalent.) My point was only that Perry Mason generated al l the fame that anyone could ask for, and that ol’ what’s his name still has it. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/30 "2014-11-24T05:11:39Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > [Haroid Robbins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Robbins) sold more books than J.K Rowling, but how many people under 40 today have read any of them? Or even heard of him? To me he’s just a name in a Squeeze song. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/31 "2014-11-24T05:42:26Z")
How many people (especially younger ones) could name a book written by Mickey Spillane? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/32 "2014-11-24T06:05:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > How many people (especially younger ones) could name a book written by Mickey Spillane? I’ve never read them, but I recognize his name and can name the character he’s famous for (“Mike Hammer”). Not only that, but looking at wikipedia, they’re apparently still publishing new Mike Hammer books (one slated to come out in 2015), producing new audiobook versions and the comic book was republished in 2013. So again, not exactly at his peak popularity, but hardly lost to the midst of time. I don’t think he’d count as “obscure”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/33 "2014-11-24T07:06:59Z")
I think Booth Tarkington would be forgotten, were it not for English lit. Not sure that works to English lit’s credit. Oh, wait, I forgot he wrote “The Magnificent Ambersons” as well as the Penrod books. I withdraw the nomination. Carry on, then. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/34 "2014-11-24T09:20:04Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I’ve never read them, but I recognize his name and can name the character he’s famous for (“Mike Hammer”). Also, there is a Mickey Spillane’s bar in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. Granted, they are probably having fun with the fact that there was also a big mobster with the Westies gang by that name. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/35 "2014-11-24T11:07:29Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > How many people (especially younger ones) could name a book written by Mickey Spillane? _I, The Jury._ What about Leslie Charteris? Absolutely huge in his day, now mostly out of print. Many people these days think that \*The Saint \*began with Roger Moore, and are unaware of the books. Many others will ask: _who is The Saint_? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/36 "2014-11-24T14:04:56Z")
**Edna Ferber** wrote Giant, Showboat, and won the Pulitzer Prize for So Big. I don’t think many folks read her stuff anymore though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/37 "2014-11-24T15:07:11Z")
Irving Wallace (_The Word_, _The Seven Minutes_, many others) was successful enough to live in a multimillion dollar Beverly Hills estate. His children wrote _The Book of Lists_ series and _The People’s Almanac_ series with him, both of which I absolutely loved for the trivia and info when I was a kid but later learned to be very skeptical of- lots of misinformation in both series. I used to have lots of his books but the only one I currently have in my collection is _The Two_, a bio he and his daughter wrote of the Siamese Twins Chang & Eng. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/38 "2014-11-24T15:32:25Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > [Frank Yerby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Yerby) > > Really well researched historical fiction Sales plummeted when the white housewives who loved his fiction learned he was black (actually he had more white and Cherokee ancestry than he had black, but this was mid-century rules) and he finally said “F&ck it!” and moved to Spain. His fiction took a turn for the darker and, imho, became better. His novel about Jesus, _Judas My Brother_, is up there with Mary Renault in my favorite fiction about the ancient world. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/39 "2014-11-24T15:42:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Yes, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s famous, he would be forgotten. Except he’s **not** famous. A character he created is, and the character’s fame is, AFAICT, far more due to the TV series than to the books themselves. Similarly Grace Metalious and _Peyton Place_. In her case, the phrase ‘Peyton Place’ and the idea it represents is what’s survived in the popular memory, not the book, and even less the author. I wonder how many people under 50 know that the phrase originated as a book title. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/40 "2014-11-24T15:45:12Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Umberto Eco, Laura Z. Hobson, Angela Thirkell, Jeannette Eyerly, and a gazillion others. Angela Thirkell ith a thquare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439.md?page=3)