This site continues to “Shelf Life”

Dear valued friends & visitors,

To consolidate efforts and time, “Authors Brief Biographies” blog has been merged with Books Shelf Life. New posts will be populated at Life Shelf.  This existing blog site, however, will remain available.

Thank you very much for understanding.

Marguerite Duras

Marguerite Duras (1914-1996)

French Novelist, Screenwriter and Playwright 

French writer Marguerite Duras wrote more than numerous novels, screenplays and plays. She is best-known for her prize-winning novel, The Lover, and her experimental works that place great emphasis on innovations regarding style. Her theme mainly explores the challenges of love in a world that affects it.

Early Life of Marguerite Duras

Duras was born Marguerite Donnadieu on April 4, 1914 in Giadinh, French Indochina, now Vietnam. Her father died when she was four, and her mother, a teacher, struggled to bring up three children.

Read more — Marguerite Duras Biography

Lope de Vega

Lope de Vega (1562-1635)

Spanish Writer – Playwright, Author and Poet

Lope de Vega, a Spanish playwright and poet, is regarded as the father of Spanish national theatre or “comedia.” He popularized this dramatic form, the three-act plays in verse, which appealed to the public despite the fact that they broke all the classical rules.

Read more … Biography of Spanish Writer Lope de Vega

 

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

English-born American Writer

Thomas Paine was a political philosopher who inspired the revolutions both in the U.S. and France. In his The Rights of Man, he adhered to the idea that the democratic republic is the only morally acceptable constitution. His main beliefs included the power of reason where there is freedom to debate, tolerance, equality of rights and the dignity of man.

Read more —  Thomas Paine and His Writings

 

John Bunyan

John Bunyan (1628-1688)

English Writer and Preacher

John Bunyan was a great English writer who communicated his religious beliefs and ideas through storytelling and allegory. He is famous for his masterpiece, The Pilgrim’s Progress.

John Bunyan was born on November 30, 1628, in Elstow, Bedfordshire, near London in a village where his family had been farmers for generations. He hardly received any education and seemed destined to lead a simple existence until two events that changed everything.

Read more…  John Bunyan Life and Works

 

Works by John Bunyan

• Grace Abounding to the chief of Sinners, 1666 
• A Confession of my Faith, and a Reason of my Practice, 1672
• The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678
• The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, 1680
• The Holy War, 1682 (or The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul)
• The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II, 1684
• A Book for Boys and Girls, 1686

Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536)

Dutch Writer

Erasmus was a Dutch writer, theologian and scholar, one of the most influential in his time and a major figure in promoting the Renaissance in Europe.

Early Life of Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (meaning, “of Rotterdam”) was born on October 27, 1469 in Rotterdam, Holland. He was a son of a priest. Both his parents died of the plague that proliferated that time. At the age of 17, he was sent to a monastery.

Read more — Desiderius Erasmus

Works by Desiderius Erasmus

• Proverbs or Adages, 1500
• Manual of a Christian Knight, 1503
• In Praise of Folly, 1511
• The Colloquies, 1518
• Discourse on the Freedom of the Will, 1523

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Irish Satirist and Poet

Jonathan Swift is best known for his brilliant book Gulliver’s Travel. He is one of the greatest satirists in the English language. His rebellious nature drove him to attack unjust laws and ridiculous customs.

Early Life of Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667 and lived in Ireland for most of his life, although he was born to English parents.

Read more — Jonathan Swift Biography

Books by Jonathan Swift

• Battle of the Books, 1704
• A Tale of a Tub, 1704
• Journal to Stella, 1710-1713
• Cadenus and Vanessa, 1713
• On the Conduct of Allies, 1713
• Drapier’s Letters, 1724
• Gulliver’s Travels, 1726
• A Modest Proposal, 1729
• Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, 1739

Mark Twain

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

American Children’s Writer

Children’s writer and humorist Mark Twain is a fixture in American literature. He was a humorous writer who created two famous characters, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He is also known for his travel book The Innocents Abroad.

Through his two most popular and loved novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain captured his boyhood escapades along the Mississippi River.

Read more — Mark Twain Biography

Children’s writer and humorist Mark Twain is a fixture in American literature. He was a humorous writer who created two famous characters, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He is also known for his travel book The Innocents Abroad.

Through his two most popular and loved novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain captured his boyhood escapades along the Mississippi River.

Mark Twain Books

• The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches, 1867
• The Innocents Abroad, 1869
• Roughing It, 1872
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884
• Pudd’nhead Wilson: A Tale, 1894 (or A Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson)