Turns out, he’s in good company: Here’s the story of Gandalf and other famous characters who experienced an identity change before publication. “You’d be with a bunch of people in the pub ...

Writers are often told to write what they know, so it should come as no surprise that many of the most famous characters in literary history are based on real people. Whether drawing inspiration ...

The greatest pieces of literature would be nothing without their characters. This could be regarded as an obvious statement, of course stories cannot be made without the people — and sometimes ...

One of the wittiest female characters in literary history, Nora Charles from The Thin Man, doesn’t hold a candle to her inspiration, Lillian Hellman. Lillian was author Dashiell Hammett’s ...

She’s interested in how considering the influence of black voices on Twain’s famous character helps desegregate American literature. In the book’s title chapter, I’m interested in how the ...

So to some extent, Oblomov is the most Russian literary character ever written ... Perhaps that’s the reason she remains famous. Perhaps Kira Knightley was a doubtful choice for the Karenina ...