Novel Facts | Facts about Novels

What was "MAS*H" based on?

The "M*A*S*H" TV series was based on Robert Altman's 1970 film, which was adapted from a novel by Richard Hooker.

Most of Charles Dickens's novels were first published in monthly or weekly installments, which kept readers hooked on cliffhangers.

"Dickensian" describes poor, grim conditions like those in Dickens's novels.

Jane Austen published her novels anonymously. Her first was credited only to "A Lady."

Jane Austen completed six major novels.

Jane Austen earned only about £600 from her novels during her lifetime.

J.K. Rowling writes crime novels under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

Agatha Christie wrote romance novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott.

Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" is the best-selling mystery novel of all time.

Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises" made the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, famous.

Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is about 587,000 words long.

The "Anna Karenina principle," used in science, is named after the opening line of Tolstoy's novel.

Stephen King wrote several novels under the pen name Richard Bachman.

"The Lord of the Rings" was written as one novel, but the publisher split it into three volumes.