Author Topic: Author! Author! (Read 360620 times)

straudetwo · « **Reply #2680 on:** February 05, 2012, 07:49:03 PM »

All very good guesses. (I haven't thought of Tom Wolfe in ages; loved Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full,.

We may be able to narrow things down : pedln is in the right era, Roshanarose has the right location.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2681 on:** February 06, 2012, 03:06:44 AM »

Evelyn Waugh?

straudetwo · « **Reply #2682 on:** February 06, 2012, 05:36:59 PM »

Sorry, not Evelyn Waugh.

The author for whom we are lookinwas not born in England.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2683 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:01:38 PM »

May we assume, then, that the author is American?

The location clue: It is set in Europe, mostly England and Italy. My guess.
The era: 1920 - 1940. Pedln's.

Is the information above correct, straude?

pedln · « **Reply #2684 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:20:40 PM »

Not born in England -- that lets out Anthony Powell

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2685 on:** February 07, 2012, 03:34:34 AM »

Elizabeth Von Armin? The Enchanted April? Oh no, just realised we are looking for a 'dandy'

Frybabe · « **Reply #2686 on:** February 07, 2012, 08:07:08 AM »

Don't rule out females, Rosemarykaye. There are female dandies. Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe-Hall, poet, was considered one. Female dandies were called dandizette. There must be plenty, but I can't find much on them. I can find more information on quaintrelles, who are similar but apparently encompass more than just the fancy dress of a dandy.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2687 on:** February 07, 2012, 08:23:32 AM »

Well Frybabe, I really do live and learn! I have just looked both of those terms up, had never heard of either of them. Thanks for that

JoanK · « **Reply #2688 on:** February 07, 2012, 04:11:07 PM »

I like "quaintelles". Do we have any out there?

straudetwo · « **Reply #2689 on:** February 07, 2012, 08:47:39 PM »

I am delighted by your fabulous guesses and (associations d'idées). Yes, I too looked up 'quainttrelle(s)'. Coco Chanel and Marlene Dietrich inter alia are apparently counted among them. U'm sure, JoanK, there were (and are) others out there.

Brava, Frybabe! Mind-stretching is good for the soul, I think. Also, I agree that we should never fail to consider women's contribution to the arts. However, the author of this book was a man.

Roshanarose, pedln was right, the era is the twenties. Our author's picture graced the cover of TIME at the time.

Rosemary, Elizabeth von Arnim would have been a perfect match for Enchanted April (1922), except she was not the author of the book in question here. BTW, there was another Elizabeth von Arnim née Brentano. Her husband, Joachim ("Achim") von Arnim, and Bettina's brother, Clemens Brentano, belonged to the Heidelberger Romantik. (The preposition "von"between first and last (name(s) denotes nobility and generally appears in lower key.)

More clues
The author's first writing appeared under his birth name. His parents had expected him to have a university career, but he soon turned to writing full-time.
He changed his name and became anEnglish subject,
One of his psychological thrillers was adapted for a segment of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock presents.
After having achieved fame and fortune with the novel, he wrote mostly political essays.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2690 on:** February 07, 2012, 09:15:12 PM »

Frybabe - I loved those names you mentioned. When I was a teenager and was beginning to learn a little about life, I asked my mother if boys were also called "virgins". She quietly took me aside and told me in hushed tones that boys were not called virgins, but "boydens". I had a chuckle remembering that conversation and was reminded by your "names". I guess you could say that they are euphemisims?

Straude - I feel perched on the edge of enlightenment with this author. I was a great Hitchcock fan and read a couple of stories he had edited, but remain baffled by your quiz. I saw "The Birds" on TV a few weeks ago. It was so good, even by today's standards.

It is a little confusing about the author in that he was born in US but changed his nationality to English. Was this before or after he wrote this novel?

PatH · « **Reply #2691 on:** February 07, 2012, 09:32:01 PM »

Traude has given us so many clues that I really feel I should know it. I'm having trouble remembering them all, though, so I collected them (hope I didn't leave any out).:

Author:
Versatile, successful, popular
The author wrote in more than one genre, including a biography of early life; political essays; horror stories.
The author was a bit of a dandy.
The author for whom we are looking was not born in England.
The author of this book was a man.
Our author's picture graced the cover of TIME at the time.
The author's first writing appeared under his birth name. His parents had expected him to have a university career, but he soon turned to writing full-time.
He changed his name and became an English subject,
One of his psychological thrillers was adapted for a segment of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock presents.
After having achieved fame and fortune with the novel, he wrote mostly political essays.

Book :
A novel, made author an instant celebrity
The novel that catapulted the author to fame was adapted for the stage and the screen.
The novel became a bestseller because readers saw it as a perfect description of the era (now bygone) in which the slightly satirical story takes place.
It is a story of the proverbial bright young people who often emerge after a disastrous period in history, their verbal smartness, their yearning to create change, and their firm conviction that life can be re-made to order, if one tries hard enough.
the era is the twenties.

Character : Restlessly searched for the perfect life
The perfection/happiness seeker was a woman.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2692 on:** February 07, 2012, 11:07:32 PM »

PatH, thank you so much for summarizing the clues.
I realize that should have been done by me, just as our Gumtree used to and pedln did recently. I truly appreciate this special favor, Pat, because I dropped a bowl today and got nicks on my fingers picking up a multitude of shards.

Can't remember when I did that last,

Roshanarose, may I clarify one detail : I did not say say that the author was American; there is no such clue in Pat's summation.

More tomorrow

Frybabe · « **Reply #2693 on:** February 08, 2012, 12:39:55 AM »

This additional information renews my interest in Joseph Conrad. I have downloaded several of his books to my Kindle but have not read them yet.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2694 on:** February 08, 2012, 10:57:13 AM »

Frybabe, , Sorry. It is not Joseph Conrad.

Conrad was born several decades before our author, and he died in England.
Our author did not die in England.

More clues later.

PatH · « **Reply #2695 on:** February 08, 2012, 03:48:53 PM »

Frybabe, I'll be interested to hear how you like Conrad. Reading him as an adult, I like him a lot, all except for Heart of Darkness. I see perfectly well what he is trying to say and the effect he is trying to have on me, but as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't pull it off. I'm in a tiny minority. It does have some good touches, though. The short story Youth is hilarious--a tale of sailing halfway around the world in a rotten coal ship with a mad captain.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2696 on:** February 08, 2012, 08:24:04 PM »

More clues

Character
The heroine has been called a femme fatale.

On her continuous travels she sought new associations with bright new people to ward off boredom rather than for spiritual growth.
Ultimately the search was futile.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2697 on:** February 09, 2012, 08:02:34 PM »

I'm still stumped.

PatH, when I get around to Conrad, I will probably read Secret Agent first. I will see if I can find Youth.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2698 on:** February 09, 2012, 10:09:20 PM »

Would you like me to post more clues or what is your pleasure ?

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2699 on:** February 10, 2012, 03:12:31 AM »

Yes please, I'm afraid I still don't know.

Thanks,

Rosemary

PatH · « **Reply #2700 on:** February 10, 2012, 07:48:47 AM »

I'm stumped too. I'll probably kick myself when I learn what it is.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2701 on:** February 11, 2012, 12:47:42 AM »

PatH, it is possible that the author is just not as well known in this country. It may is likelier, I feel, that Rosemary knows of him.

I did not mean to make this so hard, in fact I didn't think it was.
I have the book in the German translation; it was one of the books I brought with me, almost 60 years ago when we sailed for the New World, in my father's old footlocker from WW I. But I still mourn for all those I had to leave behind.

More clues.
The author wrote in a colloquial style uniquely his own with unusual inflections, inversions and in "a heightened exotic pitch" that became known as (name)esque.
The novel was made into a play and produced on Broadway with Katherine Cornell in the starring role.
The author wrote the script for the American film, a silent.
Some of the material was considered "daring" and, in order not to disgruntle the Hollywood censors, alterations were made in plot/theme details; new names given to the characters, and a title different from the book's title.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2702 on:** February 13, 2012, 03:09:39 PM »

Dear Fellow Puzzlers, there seem to be no "takers" of my last clues, and so I'm making a last attempt.

The author was good friends with D.H. Lawrence and spent time with him in Florence where the latter was working on Lady Chatterley's Lover.

When, in 1941, questions were raised in the House of Commons about the author's loyalty to England, he moved to America.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2703 on:** February 13, 2012, 09:18:03 PM »

I thought about Aldous Huxley, but too many things don't fit.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2704 on:** February 13, 2012, 11:42:45 PM »

Frybabe,

Fitting guess. It's the right epoch and literary environment.
The author and Aldous Huxley were contemporaries. There was an occasion when Huxley had reason to be wildly jealous of our author.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2705 on:** February 14, 2012, 12:15:15 AM »

straude - I have done quite a bit of research on your quiz, several hours at least. I came up with these names that have similarities to your author, but not one of them fits the bill exactly.

S.S.Koteliansky
Rolf Gardiner
Ray Bradbury
H.G. Wells
Philip Heseltine
Norman Douglas
Maurice Magnus
John Middleton Murry
Aldous Huxley
Wittel Bynner
Christopher Isherwood - Cabaret

As you can see I have not been idle. I am still looking.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2706 on:** February 14, 2012, 02:51:10 AM »

I too thought of Huxley and Isherwood, but neither of them seemed to work.

I am completely stumped

Rosemary

PatH · « **Reply #2707 on:** February 14, 2012, 08:43:25 AM »

I'm both stumped and interested. Maybe the way to get it is through Katherine Cornell, if we're reduced to research.

pedln · « **Reply #2708 on:** February 14, 2012, 12:12:24 PM »

Research is not unacceptable. The question is how to approach it.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2709 on:** February 14, 2012, 08:58:48 PM »

PatH, , yes, I agree with pedln and would definitely recommend the "digging" you mentioned.

You have all posted excellent, thoughtful guesses ; now it is only a matter of time before the big secret will be revealed.
Roshanarose's list shows the extraordinary efforts she has made.

So, don't give up now.

Corraggio (as the Italians say) = courage; take heart!
and
Adelante (to quote Spaniards) = Forward !

roshanarose · « **Reply #2710 on:** February 14, 2012, 09:33:40 PM »

pedln - I approached my research in different ways. First I checked out all the Time magazine covers between 1920 and 1930; then I checked out the episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (there were too many of them); then I went into the German 20/30s scene and the only one that looked remotely possible was the movie "Blue Angel"; then I checked Katherine Cornell; then I checked Florence with D.H. Lawrence; then I checked Aldous Huxley. We all have different ways to research, it is not really a race. I find it challenging and enjoy researching immensely. I usually don't give up until I get the answer, by whatever means.

This chap is the literary version of a needle in a haystack. However, in the true nature of research I have learned many new things along the way.

I am now going back to check those Time covers.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2711 on:** February 14, 2012, 10:02:13 PM »

Eureka - straude

My final guess (make that thoroughly researched information) is:

Michael Arlen - The Green Hat (made into the movie "A Woman of Affairs") starring Greta Garbo.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2712 on:** February 14, 2012, 11:06:20 PM »

Hurrah. We have a winner!
Congratulations, Roshanarose

That was a hard nut to crack. If I may be candid, , pedln, the consummate librarian, has known the answer for a while but held back in order to give everyone else a chance. Thank you, pedln, for this selfless gesture.
We still need to mention the author's birth name, the contry of his birth and his ethnic background. Tomorrow I'll have a few further comments on this interesting writer.

Thank you all for responding to the challenge with enthusiasm and perseverance. I loved every minute.
Traude

JoanK · « **Reply #2713 on:** February 14, 2012, 11:09:50 PM »

WOW That was a great one! Good work Roshanrose!

Frybabe · « **Reply #2714 on:** February 14, 2012, 11:16:43 PM »

Wow! Great job, Roshanarose. Arlen is not a name I am familiar with, and the movie is not familiar either. I'm not even sure I ever saw a Garbo movie, Dietrich yes, Garbo, no.

Pedln, yes, isn't the chase (research) wonderful? I get to meet new people or learn more about ones I already know, and discover new places, old and new. I just never know where the trail will lead.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2715 on:** February 15, 2012, 03:48:25 AM »

WELL DONE Roshanarose - I hadn't got a clue and I'm quite relieved to see that I've never heard of him. I did do some research re DH Lawrence and Aldous Huxley but I didn't come up with this.

It's true, the best things about these quizzes are all the other things you find out along the way - maybe they ought to teach like this in school, although on second thoughts, pupils like my son would just say 'Whatever' and go back to the X-box

Thanks Straude for such a good quiz.

Rosemary

PatH · « **Reply #2716 on:** February 15, 2012, 07:51:19 AM »

GOOD FOR YOU, ROSHANAROSE!

My face should be really red. I looked up Katharine Cornell, and saw that was one of her important stage roles. I had heard of the book, knew the subject matter had been thought controversial, knew it had been made into a movie, and STILL didn't get it. I even started to read the book once, but I was too young to make much sense of it, and gave up. I didn't know anything about Arlen's life, though.

Traude, that was a lot of fun. Like everyone else, I enjoyed the search a lot.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2717 on:** February 16, 2012, 12:17:06 AM »

Thank You - Ευχαριστώ.

I have found one and will start tomorrow, but in the meantime will wait, as a courtesy, for traude to supply further details on Michael Arlen.

straudetwo · « **Reply #2718 on:** February 17, 2012, 12:19:44 AM »

Here is the wrap-up for Michael Arlen.

The author was born Dikran Kouyoumdijian in Bulgaria in 1895, one of four sons of a well-to-do Armenian couple. Fearing the Turkish persecution of Armenians, the family left Bulgaria. The plan was for Dikran to study medicine at Oxford but he inexplicably "got lost" at Edinburgh University for a few months. That "silly mistake" was ever explainaed in the author's first novel, he london venture
Though he eventually found his way to London, his his "silly mistake" was not explained in his sWith no more houghts of eeiineany -whereemi-autobiographical novel "The London Venture".2Onn
gone, Dikran wholeheartedly embraced the lifestyle of London society o of the day, he became an exuberant part of it and was a familiar sight in his yellow Rolls Royce. In all, he wrote 9 novels, The Green Hat was his third, which made him rich and famous. But he went on writing. His vivid interest in politics was obvious early on and it continued. He became a British subject. In 1940, Arlen was appointed civil Defense ublic Relations Officer for the east midlands,, but when his koyalty to england esd wuestioned in the House of coons in 941, Arlen resigned and moved to America.

Greta Garbo was praised for her performance in the silent movie made with the title A Woman of Affairs. I never saw this silent (or had patience for any silents- some of them appear now and again on TCM). But I have always admired Garbo as magnificent and insuperable. There are too many marvelous performances showing the incredible range f emotions in e..g. Anna Karenina, Mata Hari, Camille, just to name three.
Dietrich was never my cup of tea.

Thank you all.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2719 on:** February 18, 2012, 12:30:59 AM »

Author: Is from United Kingdom. Does not belong to the DWN brigade.

Book: A departure from the type of book the author usually writes.

Character: A young boy who has just had a tragedy in his family.

News:

Author Topic: Author! Author! (Read 360620 times)