5 Authors More Badass Than The Badass Character They Created

Cracked.com:

if you look at the authors behind some of the most iconic heroes of all time, you find a writer who's every bit as badass. Not only did these guys insert elements from their actual lives into the stories, they actually toned them down a bit.

Read the whole story: Cracked.com

Comments

[davesf]

Here's the end of Casino Royale:

"The telephone rang, and Bond snatched up the receiver. He was on to 'the Link,' the outside liaison officer who was the only man in London he might telephone from abroad. Then only in dire necessity.

He spoke quietly into the receiver.

'This is 007 speaking. This is an open line. It's an emergency. Can you hear me?...Please pass this on at once: 3030 was a double, working for Redland...

'Yes, dammit, I said "was." The bitch is dead now.'

[BlackJAC]

Ian Fleming had been a desk jockey. He was considered too valuable to risk on field work, and Bond became wish fulfillment for that denied dream.

[spartanmom]

Slight correction on Byron.

He was largely a figment of his own imagination. Shameless self promoter. Traded largely on his looks and if he hadn't been really really smart and a had a wondrous command of the English language, I'd be tempted to compare him to the former part-time governor of Alaska

He went dashing off to help fight for Greek independence but died of some one of those warm weather and bad sanitation diseases before he ever set foot in Greece.

[jdrourke]

What a great article!! I actually don't have anything snarky to write. Terrific job!

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/

[sense oar sheep]

"At one point he was so injured that some American newspapers ran his obituary. Yes, that's right--Hemingway was so badass that he got to read his own obituary"

[JGatsby]

He also took the cowards way out. No true ba does that.

[RedDogBear]

You call those guys badass?! Come on, Sherlock Holmes?, King Arthur?, the real bad asses were the heros of american hard boiled detective fiction. Number one would be Sam Spade and The nameless Continental Op created by Dashell Hamett who was also a major bad ass himself. Hammett was a real PI and many of his stories were based on actual cases he was on. Hammett was also one of the few hollywood liberals who took a principled stand and told the un-american activities commission where to shove their investigation and got sent to jail for it at an age when most men were playing with their grand children. Mike Hammer from Mickey Spillane is also the ultimate bad ass, although Spilane's writing is IMHO pretty weak compared to people like Hammett and the Hammer character is so bad ass, he would rather hit you than talk to you, as to be pretty unbelievable. Then there is Phillip Marlow. As much a poet as a bad ass but definitely the latter. His skull took inumberable slugs from saps and other blunt objects but he just got up and continued to solve the case.

[Imzadi]

Wholeheartedly concur. Again, in the printed version - not the watered down, tamed down movies.

Great call!

[RedDogBear]

thanks!