The 12 Greatest Literary One-Hit Wonders (PHOTOS, POLL)

Literature is full of prolific authors -- where would we be without Jane Austen and Charles Dickens? But maybe more fascinating are those authors that are remembered for only one book, even if they had written a library's worth of other works. Why are these particular books so enduring? Why do we laud "Jane Eyre" but totally forget about "Villette"? As Robert McCrum observed in The Guardian this weekend, maybe it's better to have one great novel instead of a steady stream of hits. From "The Great Gatsby" to "Black Beauty," check out the literary one-hit wonders below, and let us know what you think of them.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"

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Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is often heralded as the great American novel (though some are less praising) and read in almost every high school English class. Though Fitzgerald did write other stories and novels, this is the one he will forever be remembered for for its portrayal of upper-class life in the 1920's and its critical look at the concept of the "American Dream." Fitzgerald's other novels include "Tender Is the Night" and "The Beautiful and the Damned." His short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" had its moment in the limelight when the movie starring Brad Pitt came out in 2008, though the film departs greatly from the story.

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Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is often heralded as the great American novel (though some are less praising) and read in almost every high school English class. Though Fitzgerald did write other stories and novels, this is the one he will forever be remembered for for its portrayal of upper-class life in the 1920's and its critical look at the concept of the "American Dream."

Fitzgerald's other novels include "Tender Is the Night" and "The Beautiful and the Damned." His short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" had its moment in the limelight when the movie starring Brad Pitt came out in 2008, though the film departs greatly from the story.

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Comments

[ioBuddha]

10:01 PM on 06/13/2010

Hmm... how about 'A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole'... a posthumous one hit wonder.

[Eric Ridenour]

06:09 PM on 06/07/2010

No Ken Kesey for 'One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest'?
Shame.

[garyd63]

09:14 PM on 06/02/2010

Henry Roth's _Call It Sleep_ is the premiere "literary" (as contrasted with market) one hit wonder. Adding to it's now fading fame is the fact of Roth's almost terminal writer's block following the publication of this book.

By the way, many Fitzgerald scholars and discerning critics do not consider _Gatsby_ his best book.

[otisimo]

10:25 AM on 05/26/2010

Did anyone mention Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. This is one of all-time favorites and fiercely original when it was published in the '20s. Anderson never really wrote much else other than short stories and a few sub par novels.

[Warheit]

09:13 PM on 05/25/2010

Raintree County by Ross Lockridge, Jr.

[Ken Robidoux]

12:38 PM on 05/21/2010

Unquestionably one of the more ignorant posts I've seen here in the book section in a while. Besides the fact that it's patently wrong, I am hard pressed to even see the general point that is being made. Writing a book that is across the board included in the literary canon is hardly worthy of "one hit wonder" status, and a number of these authors (Salinger, Kerouac, Melville, etc.) wrote a number of books that are included in the canon. What kind of jerk-water, pop-drama Perez Hilton post is this, really? I am actually embarrassed for this author: Kunhardt.

[pfc1369]

08:02 AM on 05/21/2010

Melville in no way belongs on this list.

He wrote at least a half dozen great books, among them The Confidence Man and Pierre; or The Ambiguities, as well as a first rate collection of short stories and novellas.

[leftbehind2000]

07:47 PM on 05/20/2010

Calling Gatsby a one-hit wonder for Fitzgerald is like calling Bonfire a one-hit wonder for Wolffe. You'd be very wrong on both counts.

[Skiwee]

01:56 PM on 05/20/2010

"Things Fall Apart" - Chinua Achebe

[veritas88]

05:17 PM on 05/20/2010

good choice.

[Skiwee]

06:56 PM on 05/20/2010

.....and for your good taste, fan # 25

[leftbehind2000]

07:43 PM on 05/20/2010

Love that story. Love it.

[Skiwee]

08:27 PM on 05/20/2010

Zing, # 50

[StevieTheK]

01:45 PM on 05/20/2010

Another glaring omission: Xaviera Hollander

[leftbehind2000]

07:49 PM on 05/20/2010

um, I think this thread was purportedly about "literature." While the Happy Hooker was fun reading and sold a lot of books, I don't think I'd heard it canonized before...

[StevieTheK]

09:43 PM on 05/20/2010

It said "Literary" - I don't judge :)

[HDR]

12:19 PM on 05/20/2010

The one that comes to mind is James Jones' From Here To Eternity. Although a popular movie, I recall some critics considered it to be one of the great post WWII novels.

[DessLoch]

10:43 AM on 05/20/2010

I count 13 comments (including two of my own) removed from this article in the past hour. All critical of the Kunhardt's interpretation of the original Guardian article and the assessment of some of the greatest writers of the past century. Kunhardt's article made me angry, HP's censorship eeven moreso. I can only wonder how many comments were zapped in the last five hours since the article posted. I am sure this number was substantial. So much for open discourse...

[Bike Commuter]

11:06 AM on 05/20/2010

I am guessing that the author (he/she?) is doing it personally. I just noticed another comment several pages in that has been removed. That comment did not break the posting rules, and neither did yours that got deIeted. It isn't common, but every now and then there is an article where some mo.derator or author will attempt to control the discussion with overt ce.nsorship.

[DessLoch]

11:52 AM on 05/20/2010

" It isn't common, but every now and then there is an article where some mo.derator or author will attempt to control the discussion with overt ce.nsorship. "

If that isn't sad, I don't know what is...so what's left becomes a comment thread worthy of Adam Wheeler's adept text massaging.

[RedDogBear]

01:04 PM on 05/20/2010

I disagree that it isn't common. It happens a lot for more see: http://reddogbear.blogspot.com/2010/05/free-speech.html

[MissCupcake]

12:40 PM on 05/20/2010

My comment was also deleted.

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

10:34 AM on 05/20/2010

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, has ever read Mao's failed followup "Little Blue Book."

[Bike Commuter]

03:27 PM on 05/20/2010

But his "Little Black Book" got made into a movie.

[sisyphus93]

09:48 AM on 05/20/2010

What about Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano"? Not enough of a commercial hit, I guess.

[muhair]

04:52 PM on 05/20/2010

That's a good one, actually. Makes more sense than Great Gatsby, fer crissakes. Would also nominate Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, though she had a fairly substantial lit career. First, you need to define the terms, which this post failed to do. Plenty of authors have written multiple novels but are remembered for one. E.g., Bram Stoker. No matter how creatively you contort the criteria, there's no justifying Fitzgerald on this list....

[siamao]

06:04 AM on 05/20/2010

Kunhardt raises some questions worthy of discussion, such as: "Why are these particular books so enduring? Why do we laud 'Jane Eyre' but totally forget about 'Villette'?" Yet, she stops there.
I kept looking for the continuation of the piece, but it ended abruptly, resulting in an overall
laconic effect. So, why even bother, I couldn't help but wonder. . . .