Christmas: It’s a Literary Tradition
Some of the best Christmasy things are Christmas stories, like “A Christmas Carol,” “The Gift of the Magi,” and “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Here are their origin stories.
Tag: books
Some Shocking and Spooktacular Facts About Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley wrote FRANKENSTEIN, one of the most important (and scary) novels of all time, but that’s just one moment in a fascinating life.
38 Trivia Bits from Uncle John’s 38th Bathroom Reader
The newest Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader is out for 2025. It’s the 38th edition, and so here are 38 facts taken from its pages.
Fly High, Peter Pan
Some facts about the history and impact of “Peter Pan,” in honor of creator J.M. Barrie’s birthday.
One-Book Wonders: Famous Authors Who Only Wrote One Novel
It’s the birthday of Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. She’s a literary one-hit wonder, just like these other authors who only needed to publish one hit novel.
The Jane Austen You Never Knew
Happy 250th birthday Jane Austen! Here’s some trivia about the life and work of one the greatest novelists of all time.
5 Fantabulous Thingamajigs You Didn’t Know About Dr. Seuss
You love Dr. Seuss. You know Dr. Seuss. But how much do you really know about Dr. Seuss? The facts are these.
Great and Impactful Black Authors You Might Not Know About
In honor of Black History Month, here are some overlooked and under-heralded African-American writers and authors.
Hobbies: Costly, Hard, and Tough to Find
Those who participate in the most popular hobbies seek out these things the most.
Some Tokens About Tolkien
A few fascinating facts about J.R.R. Tolkien, who gave the world The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and the inspiration for The Rings of Power.
Paperback Writers and Paperback Makers
From Shakespeare to penny dreadfuls and pulp fiction, celebrate International Paperback Day with this history of the affordable format.
Happy 160th Birthday, Sherlock Holmes
Okay, we know he’s not real. But according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, Sherlock Holmes was born on January 6, 1854. Celebrate the day (and look forward to season 3 of Sherlock) with these not-so-elementary Sherlock Holmes facts.
• Have you ever come across anyone, real or fictional, named Sherlock? It’s an obscure, Old English name that means “bright hair.”
• A common theme in all Sherlock Holmes books, movies, and other media is the great detective’s use of “deduction” to solve mysteries. Except that he doesn’t really use deduction. Sherlock uses a technique called abductive reasoning. Deduction eliminates possibilities until only one, hopefully correct theory, remains. Abductive reasoning, however, involves careful observation and consideration of evidence and any outside data to create an educated guess.
RIP Tom Clancy
Best-selling author Tom Clancy passed away yesterday at the young age of 66. Here is a look back at how The Hunt for Red October became a best-selling thriller.
In 1984, a Maryland insurance broker named Tom Clancy wrote The Hunt for Red October, a naval thriller about a Soviet submarine captain who tries to defect to the United States.
Clancy, a military buff, had never published a book before—his only “author” credits were for a three-page article on the MX missile, and a single Letter to the Editor. And the Naval Institute Press had never published a work of fiction. But they liked Clancy’s manuscript, so they bought it and printed 14,000 copies.
A Friendly Hand: President Ronald Reagan read The Hunt for Red October after it was recommended to him by a friend.. .and that’s when a reporter just happened to ask what he was reading. Reagan praised the book as “the perfect yam” and “non-put-downable.”
That did the trick. The Hunt for Red October, which until then had received little attention and was selling slowly, shot up the bestseller lists. Ultimately, it sold more than 5.4 million copies, setting Tom Clancy on a course to become one of the best-selling authors of the 20th century.
Article first published in Uncle John’s All-Purpose Extra-Strength Bathroom Reader.
Congratulations, John Scalzi
Author, blogger, philosopher, TV smart guy, and pie-eater Mr. John Scalzi has earned himself a very nice writeup in the New York Times for his latest book, Redshirts.
Something is terribly funky about the starship Intrepid…
John Hodgman on Uncle John’s [updated]
Update: Mr. Sir Hodgman has responded. We are humbled.
John Hodgman of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show fame has a new book coming out: That is All, the third in his groin-pullingly funny The Areas of My Expertise series.
Hodgman talked to Publishers Weekly about it—and a fan sent us the link:
Hodgman shares the four books that inspired his oeuvre.
He saved the best for last. Ahem:
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader
There are many volumes now of this great work of disposable facts for disposable time, but I discovered the first edition lying around back when I was still an agent at Writers House in New York City. I was not a very good agent, but Writers House itself, a beautiful 18th-century townhouse once belonging to John Jacob Astor, was a lovely place to read and scheme up a new life. And thankfully, it also had a bathroom.
Thankfully indeed!
We can think of only one thing to say to this, Mr. Hodgman…sir…your highness:
