About the Author: The Passionate Reader's Guide to the Authors You Love, Including Things You Never Knew, Juicy Bits You'll Want to Know

To: Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner -- I'm a delighted reader of your wonderful "About the Author"! I love it! I love it! I love it! I've been reading the Top 100 Novels of the Century (The Radcliff College list) and your book has been a terrific companion. The layout is clean and easy to follow and I especially like the "if you like..." sections.I'm buying more copies for Xmas gifts for all my book loving pals! Your dedication to reading is greatly appreciated!A Fellow Passionate Reader

The Glossbrenners have done it again. They have created an extremely user friendly book packed with interesting tidbits about my favorite authors plus it has enticed me to read others. I've purchased this book for many friends and family and they've been thrilled. A wonderful book for the reading connisseur and a great primer for those just beginning to explore classic fiction.

This book is just plain fun reading. Little interesting tidbits written in an interesting style make it fun to page through or read cover to cover. The suggestions for additional reading are tantalizing.

If you are a voracious fiction reader, take time out to browse through and get lost in this book. It really is addictive. The wealth of information here is astounding - each of the 125 well loved authors in the book has his or her own two page spread featuring a picture, background info, incredibly interesting "good to know" facts about the author, which of the author's books to read first, Websites featuring even more info about the author.......and more, and more, and more...... Following the author info there is more 'book-junkie' information to tempt we readers of fiction; award winners, dos and don'ts of writing to an author, information on the different fiction genres. I see this as a perfect gift for fiction readers, especially if you don't know what books the recipient has already read. It's also an invaluable resource for book groups, teachers, and booksellers. An absolute treasure for the bibliophile!

This book deserves a place on every reader's bookshelf, especially if you are thinking of tackling the works of the giants of literature.I would also recommend the book for those with children. It offers an excellent springboard for youngsters to find out more about famous authors, and also authors with a similar writing style. If the youngster enjoyed reading a classic in class, the book will point him towards other works and authors he may like.Each author is profiled with a brief history, a quote by or about the author, a list of their works, and even a suggestion on which book is best to start with if you want to, say, read all of Melville's works.Both classic and contemporary authors are profiled, all in alphabetical order. The selections are very good, and I did not detect any major omissions (of course, I'm not an English Lit professor or anything).Selected authors include Dickens, Tolkien, Salinger, Melville, Tolstoy, Toni Morrison, Garrison Keillor, and many others.An excellent reference title, and very affordable. The writing style is condensed, but easily accessible to readers of varying skill levels. As I say, no home with school-aged kids should be without it.