The Literary Hall of Fame |
Why let sports have a monopoly on Hall of Fames? A trip to Cooperstown or Canton provides even the youngest whippersnapper with a glimpse into the long history of baseball and football respectively. Game-worn jerseys, historic photos, sound recordings, and record-breaking balls are all on display. I propose that the literary world get in on the action. The Literary Hall of Fame could house some original manuscripts, wax figures and random items like Kafka’s pen or something. Plus we can boost some small town’s economy with the incoming tourism. May I suggest Shakespeare’s hometown, Statford-upon-Avon? |
In sports, an athlete retires and has to wait for a few years before being eligible for the HOF. A panel of voters decides who gets in and who is denied. Let us assume that certain writers are automatically in. There should be no debate about Dickens’ qualifications. The same goes for Twain, Whitman, Cervantes, Dickinson or Dostoevsky. If you can say just their last name and pretty much everyone knows who you’re talking about, then they are in. If they wrote their last word over fifty years ago and we are still talking about them, still reading them and still having students sloppily try to imitate them, then they’re in. What is up for debate are those writers whose careers have ended in the last three decades. Toni Morrison is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but her career isn’t over. Writers don’t retire in their late thirties like quarterbacks do. Morrison isn’t done making her case for entry. She isn’t done writing, so we’ll wait to discuss her or any other living author. With these stipulations in mind, Shelf Life has compiled a list of writers who are eligible for induction. Out of the twenty-odd entrants, you the reader can vote for ten. The results will be tallied as we go. Each writer’s major achievements and works are included. Let the debates begin. |
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) |
Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Breakfast of Champions |
Peabody Award, Pulitzer Prize, Emmy Award (2) |
The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who!, Green Eggs and Ha, Oh the Places You’ll Go, How the Grinch Stole Christmas |
Jorge Luis Borges (1889-1986) |
Cervantes Award, International Publishers' Prize |
Ficciones, El Aleph, Labyrinths, Evaristo Carriego |
Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award |
Roots, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (with Malcolm X) |
Richard Yates (1926-1992) |
National Book Award Finalist |
Revolutionary Road, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, A Good School, Liars In Love |
Robert Ludlum (1927-2001) |
Nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe and USC Scripter Awards |
The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Matarese Circle, The Osterman Weekend |
Phillip K. Dick (1928-1982) |
Hugo Award, Nebula Award (five nominations), John W. Campbell Memorial Award |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The Man in the High Castle,A Scanner Darkly, Ubik, Flow My Tears The Policman Said |
Julio Cortazár (1914-1984) |
Bestiario, Hopscotch, Final Del Juego, Los Premios |
Italo Calvino (1923-1985) |
Bagutta Prize, Legion of Honour, European Literary Award |
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics, Invisible Cities |
Truman Capote (1924-1984) |
In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany's |
Pulitzer Prize (2), National Book Award, innovator of New Journalism, George Polk Award |
The Executioner's Song, The Naked and the Dead, Armies of the Night, An American Dream |
Arthur Miller (1915-2005) |
Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Drama Circle Critics Award |
All My Sons, The Crucible, Death of a Salesman , A View from the Bridge |
National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, Rea Award |
James Tait Black Memorial Award |
The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Devil's Advocate |
Nobel Prize, Cervantes Prize, Mexican National Literature Prize |
The Labyrinth of Solitude, La Hija de Rappaccini, Piedra de Sol |
Nobel Prize, National Medal of Arts |
Herzog, The Adventures of Augie March, Humboldt's Gift |
Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) |
Nobel Prize, Neustadt International Prize for Literature, U.S. National Medal of Arts |
The Captive Mind, The Issa Valley |
William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) |
Naked Lunch, Junkie, Queer, Nova Express |
Hunter S. Thompson (1937-1995) |
Credited with creating Gonzo Journalism |
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary |
James Michener (1907-1997) |
Tales of the South Pacific, Alaska, Texas, Chesapeake, The Drifters |
David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) |
Infinite Jest, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, The Broom of the System, Consider the Lobster |
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) |
2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama |
The Godfather, The Godfather II and III (co-wrote screenplays), Superman: The Movie (co-wrote) |
James Baldwin (1924-1987) |
George Polk Memorial Award, National Institute of Arts and Letters Award |
Giovanni’s Room, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Sonny’s Blues |
Betty Friedan (1921-2006) |
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SHELFLIFEMAGAZINE : issue #007
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