November 2025
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    I’m reading a “guide”book that talks about authors and their lives. A series of vignettes, not in-depth autobiographical about any of them.

    All of the authors mentioned in this book are well-known of their era. Reading this book gives me the impression that a prerequisite to be becoming a well-known author is that your family is well to do (at least for 100-150 years ago).

    Who are some well-known authors who did not come from family money? Especially since 1900 to today. Thanks!

    by skywalkerbeth

    2 Comments

    1. mendizabal1 on

      How odd.

      Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s parrot

      Ian McEwan, The Innocent

      Annie Prouxl, Postcards

      Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge

    2. Yeah, the reality is that writing isn’t always the most stable career. It also involves a decent bit of schooling to be good at. That’s made it a historically difficult career for the working class to enter, especially before mandatory education was instituted 

      Charles Dickens had to leave school at 12 to work in a shoe factory after his parents were taken to debtor’s prison. 

      Thomas Hardy’s family was working class

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