When you think of Dan Brown, you may think of books filled with intrigue and cyphers, or you may think of movies starring Tom Hanks. However, what you aren’t likely to think of is a man whose original career aspiration was to be a songwriter and pianist.
If you collect modern first editions, you have probably encountered Book Club editions pretty frequently. Collectors frequently ask whether Book Club editions are first editions, and whether these volumes have any additional value. Book Club editions are generally differentiated from trade editions, and some people collect specific trade editions.
Janet Evanovich was born on April 22, 1943 in New Jersey. However, she would describe herself as more of a native of LaLa Land who has spent the majority of her life looking for an outlet for her imagination. Her childhood included singing opera on the streets or pretending to be a horse. As a young adult Evanovich expressed her imagination in the form of an Art Degree from Douglass College. But none of these things left Evanovich feeling complete.
So Evanovich began her writing career in her mid-thirties. She wrote story after story and spent the better part of ten years being rejected by every publishing house she sent her stories to. Her rather pornographic "romance" novels finally found a home at LoveLine, rescuing her from the world of temp work and panty hose. After five years of writing romance novels and putting every sexual exploit she could imagine to paper, she was tired of the genre. Evanovich spent the next two years researching the life of law enforcement and criminals to transition to the world of the mystery author. Today she lives and works in Naples, Florida with more then twenty best sellers to her name and is successful enough that she is able to succesfully employ her husband, son, and daughter full time.
"We play music about as well as Metallica writes novels."
-Dave Barry
Why would authors like Dave Barry and Scott Turow be playing terrible music?! They're members of a band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, a musical group of bestselling authors who play to raise money for a number of literacy charities. When Turow isn't busy playing with the Rock Bottom Remainders, he's writing bestsellers or working at an international law firm.
Born on April 12, 1949 in Chicago, Turow has written nine bestselling works of fiction and won multiple literary awards. His books have been translated into more than forty languages. The Los Angeles Times once said in a review, "No one writes better mystery suspense than Turow." It's no surprise, then, that his works are popular among collectors of modern first editions.
If you love a good spy novel, chances are you have read many of Tom Clancy’s works. But Tom Clancy was not just an author, but the king of a media empire, with his name attached to video games, movies, and non-fiction books on military topics. He was even part owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
Thomas Leo Clancy was born on April 12, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the second child of Thomas Clancy, a mailman, and Catherine Clancy. He grew up an extremely active reader and lover of history, in particular the works of naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison. Due to his religious upbringing, Clancy's parents worked very hard to ensure he was able to receive a Jesuit education, both in high school and in college. Clancy earned a degree in English Literature from Loyola College, again showing his love of the written word.
Barbara Kingsolver is known for using her creative talent to open the eyes of her readers to global injustices, ranging from environmental to social problems. Drawing upon her own childhood experiences in the Congo, she wrote her most famous work, The Poisonwood Bible. This novel, along with every book she has published since 1993, earned a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list. Kingsolver has also published several essays and poems.
James Patterson was born on March 22nd, 1947 is an incredibly prolific author who mostly specializes in thrillers but also dabbles in the non-fiction, young adult, and romance genres. However, before he became a best-selling author with more than 95 titles under his belt, he worked in advertising.
Since its inception in 1897, Doubleday has been a powerful presence in the American publishing landscape. Collectors often encounter books from the publishing house, so it's useful to know a bit about Doubleday's history and how to identify its first editions.
Best-selling crime novelist Mickey Spillane was born on March 9, 1918. Born Frank Morrison Spillane in Brooklyn, New York, he was the only child of his Irish bartender father, John Joseph Spillane and Scottish mother Catherine Anne. Spillane was brought up in the tough neighborhood of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Under the tutelage of his mother, he grew up “less tough,” reading Melville and Dumas before he was even eleven years old.
Jeff Shaara, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on February 21st, 1952. He is a novelist in his own right and the son of the famed Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Shaara. Both he and his father specialized in books on war.
