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Table for Four - Page 1
What if you could invite three fiction writers to dine with you? Dead or living, famous or obscure, which three authors would you like at your table for this special meal? And what would you talk about?
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More Table for Four Picks: 2 1
| Author: Ngaio Marsh |
She was a complex person -- a New Zealander writing classic English mysteries, living part of her life in New Zealand and part in England. She was multi-talented: author, fine artist, theater director and producer. Her Shakespearian plays are still talked about in Christchurch. I'd love to talk about these areas and find out how she went about plotting her books.
| Author: Charles Dickens |
His plots and characters were outstanding. I'd like to talk about how he got ideas for both and about the England of his day. I'd like to hear how his novels helped with social reform and if he really got the idea for Christmas Carol while lecturing in St Louis.
| Author: Richard Armour |
I've never laughed so much as when I read his series of pun-filled history books. Knowing the "real" history of course makes it funny, but Armour's attrocious puns have me ROF LOL. He must be a great wit and funny person.
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Sandra Shwayder Sanchez's Picks
| Author: Emily Bronte aka Ellis Bell |
I loved Wuthering Heights, one of my all-time favorite books.
| Author: Charlotte Bronte aka Currer Bell |
Although Jane Eyre was not one of my favorite books, I am very interested in this family of three sisters who struggled to get their books published. Charlotte was the oldest, most aggressive and most persistent. I'd ask her for advice I think.
| Author: Anne Bronte aka Acton Bell |
I have not actually read Anne's books Agnes Grey or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but as I mentioned above I am very interested in the history of these three sisters who not only struggled to get their classic works published but then to get them sold (then to get payment for the copies that were in fact sold). I wonder what they would have to say about the world of publishing today!
| Author: Stephen King |
I'd like to talk to him about writing, get into his head.
| Author: Jane Austen |
I'd love to talk to her about the time she lived.
| Author: Charlotte Bronte |
My favorite Bronte sister; I'd like to talk to her about her sisters and brother.
| Author: Toni Morrison |
I've sort of "dined" with her once back in 1999 at a reception. She's a wonderful writer I'd love to sit and talk with on a more personal level.
| Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford |
I loved her book "A Woman of Substance." In fact, she made me really love what a good story could do.
| Author: Og Mandino |
After I read "The Greatest Salesman in the World" I looked for and bought almost everything of his I could get my hands on. "The Greatest Miracle in the World" is my favorite. His work inspired me to even greater heights.
| Author: William Faulkner |
I'm native to the same area of the country he was, plus he's arguably the finest American writer ever.
| Author: Virginia Woolf |
Okay, she'd probably not condescend to accept the invitation, but still I would HAVE to meet her if I had the chance.
| Author: William Shakespeare |
I'd need to ask him, for once and for all, if he REALLY wrote all the works attributed to him!
| Author: Nelson DeMille |
I'd like to know if his characters came from his imagination or are they composites of people he knew.
| Author: David Gemmell |
I'd like to know how he plotted his trilogies -- especially when he writes them concurrently, and leaps from one of a trilogy to another without losing his control.
| Author: Georgette Heyer |
Why did she choose to write historical and mystery and not stick to the regencies that she wrote so well. Was she trying to stretch herself as a writer, or did she think writing historical and mysteries would improve her stature as an author, generate bigger incomes ... what?
| Author: James Lee Burke |
His writing blows me away. He writes Louisiana like no one else, and I know -- I'm from Louisiana. But I'd probably be too much in awe to actually speak to him.
| Author: Tony Hillerman |
I've met Tony briefly, and he's such a sweetheart! I'd love to have dinner with him. Tony's a true storyteller.
| Author: Mark Twain |
What a wonderful wit! Again I'd be too much in awe to speak, but I know I'd be laughing in no time.
| Author: Truman Capote |
I love the precision of his writing. It's so clean!
| Author: Agatha Christie |
She'd probably be too shy to talk much, but I'd love to ask her how she did it.
| Author: Edgar Allan Poe |
I'd like to find out what was bugging him.
| Author: Dorothy Sayers |
Though she died in 1957, Sayers wrote what are to me the most compelling mysteries ever written. I've never understood British humor, but she has me unexpectedly laughing out loud. She doesn't just tell me a story. She puts me IN the story. I read her books over and over again. People say she couldn't sell today, yet Harper periodically re-issues her books. I aspire to write like Sayers writes.
| Author: Lawrence Sanders |
Sanders is also deceased, although much more recently. His mysteries, too, enchant me, although his writing is fast-paced and a reader had to pay attention.
| Author: Judith McNaught |
Her unexpected humor catches me by surprise. I feel I know her characters as they often behave in a way that seems perfectly to be expected while other characters react as if McNaught's heroes and heroines are weird.
| Author: Raymond Chandler |
He's the master. His storytelling prowess leaves me breathless. Just the chance to fill his waterglass would make me a better writer.
| Author: James Herbert |
James opened my eyes to horror fiction as an impressionable 12-year-old. His ability to tap into people's fear has always stunned me.
| Author: Richard Matheson |
He's the godfather of modern speculative fiction. Anything written in the last fifty years stems from his work. I'd be honored to talk with him so that I know how best to carry on his legacy.
| Author: Tamar Myers |
Her Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries are absolutely wonderful. Magdalena Yoder is a kick and a half.
| Author: Elizabeth Peters |
Amelia Peabody Emerson. Well, and Ramses Emerson as a boy, too. I can't think of two other fictional characters who have made me laugh more (guess I like funny stuff, huh?)
| Author: Carola Dunn |
Her Daisy Dalrymple mysteries take me right smack into the 1920s, which is a period I love (and in which I write, too).
| Author: Jane Austen |
How could I not invite Jane Austen? I have a lot of questions for her. What was going to become of her heroine in Sandition? What happened "ever after" with Lizzie and Mr. Darcy? (All authors, I think, project into their characters' futures.) Did Kitty come to live with them and become Georgianna's best friend? Did Mary ever find a man who could appreciate her? Did Charlotte Lucas finally kill Mr. Collins? (One can only hope.)
| Author: Mark Twain |
Because I really, really want to pit him against Jane Austen in the battle of caustic wit. I think she could make mincemeat of him. Or maybe not. Hmmmm.........
| Author: Janet Evanovich |
ery good for my diet. Between her and my other two guests, I'd be laughing so hard I wouldn't be able to eat.
| Author: John D. MacDonald |
He was incredibly prolific, sixty plus novels and a gazillion short stories, all while writing on an old Royal manual typewriter. His Travis McGee character changed the American PI story forever.
| Author: James Lee Burke |
His novels are the most astonishing mix of poetry and darkness. He's my idol.
| Author: Cormac McCarthy |
He's brilliant, but I don't know why I'd invite him, because he'd probably never say a word to the rest of us.
| Author: Anthony Trollope |
Smart, funny, but with a sentimental core - he'd be great to gossip with, because I know he'd only be mean to the folks who deserved it.
| Author: Denise Mina |
My current favorite mystery author gets into the Scottish pub life like I do the Boston club scene, and I'd love to hear more!
| Author: Jane Austen |
Her dead-on wit would bring us all together, laughing over the wine!
| Author: Eugene Izzi |
He was one of the finest modern-day crime fiction writers ever. Simply put, he was one of my biggest inspirations.
| Author: Stephen Ambrose |
Nobody made history as intersting as Ambrose. His insight and respect for his subject matter was remarkable.
| Author: Eleanor Taylor Bland |
Not only a wonderful writer, but one of the kindest persons I've ever known. And I never get to see her enough these days!
| Author: Tom Clancy |
Clancy's writing is what got me to look seriously at becoming a writer. RED STORM RISING is still one of the best of his works.
| Author: Mark Twain |
I think Twain would liven up the conversation and provide the 4 of us some really great cigars.
| Author: J.K. Rowling |
I'd love to know the inside dirt on Harry Potter, direct from the author.
| Author: Richard Peck |
His books were among the first to really inspire me. His range of topics and his characters sucked me in... every time.
| Author: Eloisa James |
Her books have the most engaging characters. She isn't afraid to make them human and give them human frailties.
| Author: Jane Austin |
Because I'm a sucker for gallant hero.
| Author: William Shakespeare |
The premier pop-culture story teller of his day. I suspect the Bard and Mr. King would have alot to discuss.
| Author: Stephen King |
The premier pop-culture story teller of his day. So many have said that he is not a real author, but they said that about ol' Jiggle Lance as well.
| Author: Franz Kafka |
I wonder what he would say about the state of the world today? I can't wait to see what comes out with the second bottle of wine.
| Author: Walter Mosley |
His ability to incorporate history lessons in a mystery without being overly didactic.
| Author: Barak Obama |
I'd like to hear for myself that he is as caring and smart as his writing suggests.
| Author: Anne Tyler |
To talk about her writing process; how she mangages her time to get so many books in print.
| Author: William Shakespeare |
The greatest poet of the language. I bet he'd have some saucy stories. Besides, I could ask him if he actually did write all the plays attributed to him. Hey Will, what was Christopher Marlowe really like?
| Author: Edgar Allan Poe |
A one of a kind imagination and a brilliant mind, if troubled. I'm sure he'd offer lively and entertaining dinner conversation.
| Author: Laura Hillenbrand |
I loved her book on Seabiscuit, more than any book I've read in many years. She told the story so beautifully that if I could add a fifth guest to the dinner it would be the Biscuit himself.
More Table for Four Picks: 2 1
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