1. As strange as it might seem, three of the most famous tales in the Arabian Nights cycle weren't in the original book. Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor and his seven adventurous voyages were much later additions to the original tales, and some researchers still consider these to be fakes, not the real deal. 2. Ray Bradbury never wanted to get his driver's licence - although at times he admited it would have been really useful - because as a child he had witnessed a fatal car crash.
3. Vladimir Nabokov had to work and earn a living for a long time before he finally enjoyed commercial success as a writer. He was not only a professor at the Cornell University but in the beginning he tutored students and even taught tennis lessons, as strange as it might seem. It wasn't until Lolita that he could devote himself to writing full time.
4. Famous today for his series about the wonderful land of Oz, L. Frank Baum was very interested in the life and habits of... chickens. It wasn't just a hobby, for the writer actually published his first non-fiction book on the subjects, and the title is really a tongue-twister: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs. The funniest thing is that one copy can fetch today a rather hefty price among collectors.
5. John Grisham's first novel was rejected no less than 28 times before someone had the guts to publish it. So 28 publishing houses passed on the opportunity of releasing A Time For Kill. Talk about losing money in the long run.
6. Kurt Vonnegut is not only a huge Mark Twain fan, but he also shares several strange characteristics with his literary hero: they were both born in the month of November, they worked as journalists, they had their books banned. And also they were heavy, really heavy smokers.
7. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was a huge admirer of Houdini. Not only that, but he was convinced that the famous illusionist really had magical powers.
Photo: amazon.com
