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Question: Has there ever been a good book written by a committee!?
Authors tend to be solitary creatures, if you believe the book jackets!. Every story I see is written by only one or (occasionally) two people!. Strangely enough the TV and movie industries are happy to use a team of writers!. I wonder if that type of cooperation has ever been used to write a book!. So, can you think of any good (or even mediocre) books that had three or more authors!?
I'm not including short story compilations or textbooks here, because that doesn't require the authors to work together constantly!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The only one I can recall is a book in which various authors take a different character; each one describing a common event (or events) they all witnessed!.
The book I mean is called The Affair at the Inn from 1904 which was written by Kate Douglas Wiggin, Jane Findlater, Mary Findlater and Allan McAulay!. Though it's been years since I read it, I remember enjoying it!.
This probably isn't what you mean, though!. It was more on the order of semi-short stories that worked together to form a cohesive novel (if that makes sense)!.
***Edit: I remembered a set of books that were written by several authors, each taking one chapter and sometimes several chapters!. They were "Detection Club" books with writers like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L!. Sayers, E!.C!. Bentley, G!.K!. Chesterton and others!. Some of the books which they wrote together are The Scoop and Behind the Screen, The Floating Admiral, Ask a Policeman, The Anatomy of a Murder, Six Against the Yard, Double Death: An Exercise in Detection aka Double Death: A Murder Story, No Flowers By Request, Crime on the Coast (and others)!. I can't believe I forgot these books!. They were really good!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Surprised nobody has mentioned religious works yet!. Setting aside wherever the inspiration for the texts came from, and whoever the "first author(s)" was or were, multiple variations and translations of every religious text out there have been constructed that are beautiful works of art and literature, and as collaborative pieces often (though not always) show a suitable uniformity!.
Ken Kesey's 'Caverns' is also pretty cool and successful--it was written by Kesey and his students at the University of Oregon!. I read it when I was about fourteen so I don't remember too much about it besides the fact that it didn't suck!.
To TW K, are you thinking of Wiki Novel!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Ah! Persi's answer reminds me of something in a newspaper about a month ago (or may be earlier)!. There are these people who have put up a novel writing forum on the net!. They register people and then everyone contributes a little to that!. The paper said about 1000 people had registered so far!.
The story was about a businessman who had been locked up in a gowdown and now is reminiscing about his past life!.
I will seacrh and put up a link if I can get it!.
To Kate S!. It was something like that, but it was not the Wiki novel!. It was put up by some Indian guys!. Two of them; who worked as moderators and editors!. The people contributed and these guys picked the best portion!. Then they posted the so-far-completed version of the novel and the people continued writing!. The problem is I didn't check the site when I read about it!. Perhaps then I would have remembered it!. Thanks for sharing this one, though!
TW KWww@QuestionHome@Com
Chicken Soup Books!.
I gots one called "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul"!.
:DWww@QuestionHome@Com
Kind of!. Back in the 60's when Jacqueline Susann was churning out trashy books like Valley of the Dolls, a bunch of reporters from New York's Newsday got an idea while sitting around a bar on Long Island!.
They decided to write the worst book ever!. They decided that each one would write a chapter, then put it together and give it a pen name!. They named the book Naked Came the Stranger and gave it the name Penelope Ashe - somebody's sister in law I think!.
They expected it to be the biggest bomb ever!. Weren't they shocked when it became the biggest hit ever instead!? The book went crazy!. Everybody wanted to know who the reclusive Penelope Ashe was and when her next book was coming out!. There was never a second!.
Many years later, one of them confessed to the hoax!. There are still a couple of them alive today and it is still the biggest joke in the publishing industry - that a publisher got taken by a bunch of reporters!.
There have also been a couple of books since then - once done by all Floridian authors and one by female authors!. also as jokes!. I know the male one was Naked Came the Manatee and Carl Hiaasen and Dave Berry were in on it!. I have forgotten the female one!. If I think of it I will add!. Pax-C
EDIT == the female one was Naked Came the Phoenix and featured JD Robb, Faye Kellerman, Diana Gabbaldon and several others!.Www@QuestionHome@Com