14 famous authors trash-talking classic books

Twain ruthlessly criticized other writers

The writer was known for lambasting popular writers of his time, including Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson. One of his most famous takedowns is “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences,” an essay that simultaneously mocks Cooper’s popular adventure tales and satirizes the pretentiousness of literary criticism. Remarking on Cooper’s novel “The Deerslayer,” Twain wrote, “its conversations are—oh! Indescribable; its love-scenes odious; its English a crime against the language.”

Critics are still debating 'the great American novel'

The title has been bandied about since the 19th century, though its definition has only become more debated as time goes on. This list catalogs some of the texts critics have argued deserve the crown (like "The Great Gatsby," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and "Invisible Man") and, helpfully, includes those critics’ rationales. Think of it as your new “to read” list—or maybe just something to argue about at your next family gathering.

Hear three critics discuss why they love Jane Austen

In this podcast, the New Yorker's Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss their favorite Austen novels in celebration of the legendary writer's 250th birthday. Fans of Austen will appreciate the spirited discussion of what distinguishes her masterworks from her lesser works, but even newcomers will get a solid overview of what the writer offers readers.

Joyce's 'Ulysses' is among modernism's most famous novels

James Joyce’s 1922 epic, “Ulysses,” might be the most intimidating of the modernist movement's many famous novels. It’s a lengthy tome and incredibly dense, written in a stream-of-consciousness style that many readers find impenetrable. Others, however, find it transcendent. This travelogue was written by a reporter traveling to Dublin for Bloomsday, the annual holiday celebrating the novel, who wants to understand why so many people are so drawn to something so esoteric.

Stephen King, Octavia Butler, and Anthony Burgess all grew to regret books they'd published

Some, like Butler, regretted writing predictable, trope-heavy books. Others, like King and Burgess, regretted that what they'd intended as satire had been misunderstood as endorsements.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

A literary critic on why classic Russian literature matters

Gary Saul Morson has spent his life studying Russian writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. In this 2022 talk at Hillsdale College, Morson focuses on classic texts like "The Brothers Karamazov" and "War and Peace," suggesting these Russian novels had as much to say about their home country as they did about the larger world. Most importantly, he argues, they still have much to offer modern readers.

Many critics panned Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' when it was released

The 1847 novel, initially published under a pseudonym, was seen by some early readers as obscene and cruel. One particularly brutal review from Graham's Lady's Magazine read, "How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery."

Explore a list of the best novels of all time

Why 2 literary writers think you should read Colleen Hoover

The "It Ends With Us" author is one of the most successful contemporary writers in American literature; she's also one of the most derided. Elizabeth Kaye Cook and Melanie Jennings argue that the criticism is mostly unfounded and that literary types should embrace more commercial authors like Hoover.

Aldous Huxley wrote to George Orwell about '1984'

After reading "1984," Aldous Huxley wrote to his former student George Orwell, offering some praise for the recently released novel. The letter, though, offers much criticism, too, arguing that Huxley's vision in "Brave New World" of a world state that pacifies its citizens through overwhelming pleasure is the more likely—and more horrifying—nightmare.

Contemporary horror novelists on their favorite scary stories

Ten of horror's best writers name the books that still give them nightmares. From established classics, like Stephen King's "IT" and Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," to unexpected picks like Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love," this collection of scary stories is a perfect reading list for Halloween.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Writer DH Lawrence argued that the novel is the height of literature

DH Lawrence was a 20th-century writer, known for his novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.” In his essay “Why the Novel Matters,” written in 1925, Lawrence argues that the novel, more than any other literary form, allows readers to experience the whole of human experience, writing that “only in the novel are all things given full play.”

Flannery O’Connor’s recommended reading

O’Connor was a rabid reader and a prolific letter writer, often suggesting (and sometimes criticizing) books to friends and admirers. This list distills those recommendations into a compact list, praising Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, and National Geographic. It’s a good reading list and a fascinating window into O’Connor’s influences.

David Foster Wallace admired Stephen King's writing

David Foster Wallace was one of the most acclaimed American writers of the 1990s and early 2000s, releasing dense, philosophically informed works of literary fiction. When the syllabus for an undergraduate literature course he taught surfaced through his archives at the University of Texas, many of his fans were surprised to find it included so much supposedly commercial fiction, including Stephen King's "Carrie." Below are his annotations on two pages of the novel.

'Pride and Prejudice' initially received a form rejection from a publisher

Jane Austen's most popular novel—it has sold over 20 million copies and been adapted numerous times for the screen—was rejected by publisher Thomas Cadell in 1797, who responded to Austen's father's offer to send the manuscript with a curt form letter: "Declined by return of post."

'Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.'

- Author Philip Roth (1933-2018)

Ursula K. Le Guin worked to dismantle fantasy's clichés

The author is one of the genre’s most legendary names, constructing high fantasies like “The Earthsea Cycle” that detail intricate new worlds. In 2004, she delivered a lecture criticizing books and movies that rely on a simple formula: white characters, Medieval settings, and a battle between good and evil. “Whenever I find a fantasy that is set in a genuinely imagined society and culture instead of this lazy-minded, recycled hokum,” she said, “I feel like setting off fireworks.”

Improve your typing speed by retyping classic literature

Why practice with nonsense letters and syllables when you can retype full books you always wanted to read, from Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to George Orwell and W.E.B. duBois. And it's free.

The Beat Generation, explained

The Beat Generation challenged societal norms in the 1950s by embracing experimental writing and tackling taboo topics like drug use, spirituality, and nonconformity. Figures like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Diane di Prima sparked a cultural movement that rejected traditional literary forms and explored the hidden struggles of American life.

A list of nine quirky literary adaptations of Shakespeare's life and works

Although surprisingly little is known about the actual man, William Shakespeare holds an unrivalled place in English letters. His characters, from Hamlet to Hermione, have inspired countless imitators, responses, and caricatures, and this list gathers a few of the best for the modern reader, including Richard Adams' adaptation of King Lear through a story about dogs.

Cult classics are often defined by their polarization

Films that reach cult status are far from universally beloved. In fact, fans of cult movies often become such passionate supporters because a title has been lambasted by mainstream audiences. Stat Significant breaks down some of the most polarizing films of all time based on the data behind audience scores. It should come as no surprise that many in the top 10 are considered cult franchises.

Loving bad art isn't always about mockery

Dr. John Dyck, an assistant professor of philosophy at Mississippi State, says admirers of "so good they're bad" works like "The Room" do not do so ironically. "They love it as a gorgeous freak accident of nature, something that turned out beautifully—not despite, but because of the failure of its creators."

How famous writers chose their pen names

From Joseph Conrad to JK Rowling, writers employ pseudonyms for all kinds of reasons. How they find those pseudonyms, however, depends on the individual.

Even medieval teachers sometimes complained about their students

Although it's tempting to assume that the youngest generation has gone astray, it's important to remember that older generations throughout history have been annoyed, and even dismayed, by the behavior of the youth. Look no further than this collection of medieval teachers complaining about their students, including one father who complains that his son prefers "license to restraint and play to work and strumming a guitar while the others are at their studies."

The opening chapters of bestselling novels are thousands of words shorter than they were in the 1950s

Novels like "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Lord of the Flies" averaged opening chapters with about 4,500 words. Titles from the 2020s, on the other hand, including "Fourth Wing" and "Lessons in Chemistry," are closer to 2,500 words.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.