Chapter 8: Famous American Writers

Chapter 8: Famous American Writers

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

One of America’s best writers, Mark Twain, was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri. His family moved to Hannibal, Missouri in 1839 and he grew up swimming, fishing and playing near the Mississippi River. As an adult, he became a steamboat pilot and met many interesting characters on the river. Later, as a writer he expressed the American spirit in his books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain wrote with humour and his books are still popular today.

Harper Lee (1926-)

Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, on 28th April, 1926. She only published one book, To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the racism in her hometown in the 1930s. Surprisingly, her book became an immediate best seller and she received a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1961. One year later, Universal Pictures made a film of it. It won three Oscars and three Golden Globes. In 1999, readers of the Library Journal voted To Kill a Mockingbird “The Best Novel of the Century”. Today, there are more than 30 million copies in print and it is always high on the “best-sellers” list.

Stephen King (1947-)

Stephen King is a very popular writer of horror stories. He also writes suspense, science-fiction and fantasy novels. King was born in Portland, Maine, and began to write stories at the age of seven. He always enjoyed science-fiction and monster films. His first book, Carrie, was very successful and King stopped doing his other jobs and concentrated on writing. Many of his books are now films including Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist.