Ralph Ellison

Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914-1994)

American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist

Ralph Ellison is best known for his novel, Invisible Man, claimed to be where his reputation lies as a writer. This book provides a study of racism and its effect on a person’s identity. It became a classic of modern American literature.

Life of Ralph Ellison

Ralph Waldo Ellison was born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma City. He won a state scholarship and was educated at Tuskegee University.

Read more… Ralph Ellsion Biography

Books by Ralph Ellison

• Invisible Man, 1952
• Noble Savage I, 1960
• Shadow and Act, 1964
• Going to the Territory, 1986

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

American Novelist, Short-Story Writer and Poet 

American novelist Stephen Crane is best known for his classic book The Red Badge of Courage. His use of realism in his stories immensely influenced future American writers.

The Early Years of Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 1, 1871, the 14th child and the youngest, of a Methodist minister, Reverend Townley Crane, and Mary Helen Peck Crane.

Read more — Stephen Crane Biography

Works by Stephen Crane

• Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, 1893
• The Black Riders, 1895
• The Red Badge of Courage, 1895
• George’s Mother, 1896
• The Open Boat and Other Tales, 1898
• War is Kind, 1899
• Active Service, 1899
• Wounds in the Rain, 1900
• The O’Ruddy (completed by Robert Barr), 1903, published after he died

Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916)

American-born English Author, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Playwright, Critic

Henry James was a American-born English classic author of novels, short-stories, plays and literary criticisms. Some of his greatest novels include: The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl. Famous stories he wrote: Portrait of a Lady and The Bostonians. Among the authors he considered his great influence include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gustave Flaubert, Honoré de Balzac, Guy de Maupassant and Ivan Turgenev.

Read more… [Henry James, Life and Works]

Major Works by Henry James:

Books by Henry James:

• Watch and Ward, 1871
• Roderick Hudson, 1875
• The American, 1877
• The Europeans, 1878
• Daisy Miller, 1879
• Washington Square, 1880
• The Portrait of a Lady, 1881
• The Bostonians, 1886
• The Princess Casamassima, 1886
• The Tragic Muse, 1890
• The Sacred Fount, 1901
• The Wings of the Dove, 1902
• The Ambassadors, 1903
• The Golden Bowl, 1904

The Spoils of Poynton, 1897 – Short novel

Gustave Flaubert

December 12 (1821), is the birthday of French author and short story writer Gustave Flaubert.  He was born  in Rouen, France. He’s best known for the novel Madame Bovary (1857).

His father convinced him to go to law school, but he dropped out. So his father bought him a house on the Seine, and Flaubert devoted the rest of his life to writing. After his father died, he moved back in with his mother, where he lived until he was 50 years old.

It took him about five years to write Madame Bovary, about the adulterous affair of a provincial housewife. He said, “Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

Most of Flaubert’s novels were unsuccessful.  A Sentimental Education (1869) sold fewer than 3,000 copies in its first four years in print. But he became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially among writers like James Joyce.