# Single novel authors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2001, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117 "2001-09-17T07:02:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/21 "2001-09-19T06:16:15Z")
Am I correct in remembering that **Oscar Wilde** only wrote one novel, _The Picture of Dorian Gray_? And what a great novel it is. All of his other great works were plays and such. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/22 "2001-09-19T06:26:45Z")
…wasn’t _Confederacy of Dunces_ also published posthumously? (Running upstairs) Yes. According to Walker Percy in his introduction to the paperback I bought sometime in 1983, Toole’s mother, Thelma, began calling Percy at Loyola in 1976, about this great novel that her dead son had written. So _Dunces_ was published posthumously. So then _The Neon Bible_, a much lesser novel, was published in the last few years, which means that Mr. Toole belongs on his own list, as he has **two** books to his credit. And, **dtilque** , I say Salinger goes on the Single Novel Authors. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/23 "2001-09-19T06:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shagnasty \* > \*\*What about J.D. Salinger for the Catcher in the Rye? \*\* But…he did write a number of other books that, IMO, are on a par with (or better then) Catcher. Mostly collections of short works, tho. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/24 "2001-09-19T06:36:41Z")
How about Ilene Greer Gilman? (Hope I have her name right.) She published an abosolutely amazing fantasy novel, **Moonwise** , and as far as I know, nothing else. If I’m wrong, someone please say so – I’d love to find more by this author. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/25 "2001-09-19T06:55:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > You could probably include a number of celebrity authors who were able to sell one novel of the strength of their fame and novelty value. . . Jim Lehrer . . . For the record, Jim Lehrer has written a whole bunch of novels. Just check Amazon. As for the OP, I’d throw out the name of Dante for his _Divine Comedy_. Not really a novel, but I think it’s in the spirit of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Llamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Llamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llamer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/26 "2001-09-19T08:10:10Z")
Joseph Heller wrote only one GOOD novel worth his name. If you consider Saliner, what about him? Unless otherwise, Robert M. Pirsig just has ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAITENENCE to his name. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/27 "2001-09-19T17:19:49Z")
> [@](#): > > For the record, Jim Lehrer has written a whole bunch of novels. Just check Amazon. Oops. Okay, I’ll withdraw Lehrer and substitute Sir Winston Churchill. Churchill wrote a single novel, _Savrola_, in 1900. Lest anyone check into this and get confused, I’ll point out that Winston Churchill was a best selling author a hundred years ago and released his eighth novel, _Richard Carvel_, in 1900. However, Winston Churchill the author and Winston Churchill the politician were two different people. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/28 "2001-09-19T17:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*As for the OP, I’d throw out the name of Dante for his _Divine Comedy_. Not really a novel, but I think it’s in the spirit of the question. \*\* Dante also wrote La Vita Nuova (The New Life). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117/29 "2001-09-19T21:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Llamer \* > Joseph Heller wrote only one GOOD novel worth his name. If you consider Saliner, what about him? Well, I’m not considering Salinger. And I’m not considering authors with just one good book. That was the other thread in Cafe Society. See the link above. > [@](#): > > Unless otherwise, Robert M. Pirsig just has ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAITENENCE to his name. According to [amazon.com](http://amazon.com), he’s now written a second novel _Lila : An Inquiry into Morals_. When I looked up Pirsig on amazon, I got a kick out of this offer: > [@](#): > > Buy Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inqu… and get Motorcycle Basics Manual (Haynes Automotive Repair… at an additional 5% off Amazon’s everyday low price. Ilene Greer Gilman seems to have only written _Moonwise_, at least according to amazon. The question is, is it a well-known book? I’d never heard of it and I suspect most people have not. Yes, I knew _Dunces_ was published posthumously, and so it doesn’t really go with the other Posthumous Second Novels, although technically it does. I was lazy and didn’t want to add another category. As for **Little Nemo** ’s list, I’m not going to add it to mine. Rather keep it as a separate List of Novels by People Famous for Other Things. Carl Sagan should be added to that list, although his novel is sufficiently well-known (if only because they made a movie of it) that it belongs on my list too. As far as Dante, Cervantes, and such, you might note the the OP is (preferably) asking for stuff from the last couple centuries, when the novel had become a well-defined artform. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-novel-authors/82117.md?page=1)