The writer
Joseph Heller published his first novel Catch-22
in 1961 at the age of 38. He went on to publish six more novels, as well as
plays, screenplays, and two autobiographies. I’ve only read some of his later
books, and Good as Gold was
memorable, but I don’t think many readers would dispute that his first book was
his best.
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| Joseph Heller with his family, not long after the publication of Catch-22 |
I knew Joseph
Heller a little bit growing up. His daughter Erica and I were classmates and
friends in our early teens. Joseph Heller was as funny as his books. Tall,
broad-shouldered, he towered over most people. He used to describe himself as
“The World’s Tallest Midget.” But I digress.
Publishing his
best book first put Joseph Heller in excellent company. There was also
Charlotte Brontë, who wrote Jane Eyre
at age of 31 before any of her other novels. J.D. Salinger authored many good
books, but I think the consensus is that his first book, The Catcher in the Rye, is the classic of all his works.
Why would a
writer create her or his best book right at the beginning of a career, before
that person has the experience, maturity, and craft to polish a work to a
shining finish? Sometimes the first great plot or narrator’s voice that gets a
writer on the page is so good, it just can’t be outdone. Many writers who write
their best book first keep trying to recreate that magic, but hey!—writing one
great book is nothing to sneeze at. How many have done it?
More common as a
trajectory for writers is to produce the best books in mid-career. One great
example of this is Virginia Woolf. She published her first book, The Voyage Out, in 1915 at the age of
33. In my opinion, Virginia Woolf never wrote a bad book, but she certainly hit
her stride in the middle of her career, when she published in succession Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando, (1928), and A Room of One’s Own (1929). That has to
be one of the best four-year runs in the history of literature. Her subsequent
novels were also good, but, to my mind, not up to that amazing mid-career
burst.
There are many
other examples of writers who warm up with a few books of fair to middling
quality, then write their masterpiece(s), and finish a career with works that
don’t quite measure up. In his early years Leo Tolstoy wrote three
autobiographical novels that are rarely read. Those were the prelude to War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which he penned in middle age, but didn’t equal
again in his later years, despite his fame.
It makes sense that peaking in mid-career is the most common path—at that stage, the writer has acquired some chops, and has begun to discover which themes are closest to their heart. Energy and originality are still relatively easy to access.
Another familiar example of this trajectory is Gustave Flaubert, who wrote Madame Bovary in mid-career. But the author Dorothy Bryant argues in her play Dear Master based on the correspondence of Flaubert and George Sand that all his previous work led up to the exquisite novella “A Simple Heart,” which he wrote toward the end of his life.
It makes sense that peaking in mid-career is the most common path—at that stage, the writer has acquired some chops, and has begun to discover which themes are closest to their heart. Energy and originality are still relatively easy to access.
Another familiar example of this trajectory is Gustave Flaubert, who wrote Madame Bovary in mid-career. But the author Dorothy Bryant argues in her play Dear Master based on the correspondence of Flaubert and George Sand that all his previous work led up to the exquisite novella “A Simple Heart,” which he wrote toward the end of his life.
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| Dorothy Bryant |
That leads us to
the third type of author, one who is striving to write a certain kind of book
all their life and realizes that ambition after many false starts, only
at the end of a career. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke authored books of poetry starting in his adolescence, but one could argue that his greatest period was a
stretch of only a few weeks in February 1922, four years before his death, when
two of his most celebrated books poured out of him, almost as if dictated: Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. At least, that is the legend that Rilke
promoted, which was good business, since it gave those two later books a
special status.
George Orwell
wrote excellent nonfiction from the start of his career, but only his devoted
fans (like me!) read his early fiction. Right at the end of his life, though, he
wrote both Animal Farm and 1984, by far his two most famous and widely
read works.
One can also see
the rationale behind the career that climaxes in a best book or books. It can
take a whole lifetime to get it right, to assemble the toolbox that a writer
needs to build the dream house, the work that brings together the themes that
eluded the author at a less mature stage. That older author then has all the craft it takes to
realize the potential of the blueprint.
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Zack Rogow’s book of translations, The Water Drinkers and Other Sketches of Paris in the Romantic Era, from the French of Henry Murger
Other recent posts about writing topics:
How to Get Published
Getting the Most from Your Writing Workshop
How Not to Become a Literary Dropout
Putting Together a Book Manuscript
Working with a Writing Mentor
How to Deliver Your Message
Does the Muse Have a Cell Phone?
Why Write Poetry?
Poetic Forms: Introduction; The Sonnet, The Sestina, The Ghazal, The Tanka
How to Be an American Writer
