# Same author, different pseudonym, radically different viewpoints?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 24, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022 "2017-01-24T11:36:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022/21 "2017-01-25T17:17:45Z")

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> [@Teuton](#):
>
> Oh, is he out now?

Since the middle of 2015 or so [What's in a Name? K.J. Parker, Revealed - Reactor](http://www.tor.com/2015/04/21/whats-in-a-name-kj-parker-revealed/)

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022/22 "2017-01-25T18:20:14Z")

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> [@cher3](#):
>
> Ruth Rendell wrote under that name when she published her detective series and mystery/thrillers. When she wanted to do something more “psychological” she used Barbara Vine.

I was the editor on four of Ruth’s books, as well!

I never thought the Rendell/Vine difference was anything as extreme as, say, Westlake/Stark. Try the Rendell _A Judgement in Stone_ or _The Bridesmaid_ or _Heartstones_ for some really terrifying “psychological” shivers.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022/23 "2017-01-25T18:45:15Z")

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> [@cher3](#):
>
> Ruth Rendell wrote under that name when she published her detective series and mystery/thrillers. When she wanted to do something more “psychological” she used Barbara Vine.

Possibly it’s because I’m not a fan, but that’s not really sufficiently radically different for me, and it’s a different _style_, not a different _viewpoint_ IYSWIM.

Anyway, despite having mooted it in the OP, the lack of political authors so far is conspicuous.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-author-different-pseudonym-radically-different-viewpoints/778022/24 "2017-01-25T19:47:55Z")

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The closest I can come to a political example is liberal Stephen Colbert, who writes conservative material under the pseudonym Stephen Colbert.

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