The struggles and inspirations that gave birth to our great writers' most memorable creations.

A delightful compendium of wit and information, this book takes us on a casual stroll through literary history as the world's most successful writers sought just the right name, or just the right tone, or just the right prop, for the hero or heroine of their works.

How did Nero Wolfe in Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout end up with the name of a Roman emperor? Was Tolstoy's Anna Karenina based on a real person? Why was Hercule Poirot, the great inspector in the mysteries of Agatha Christie, a Belgian rather than a Frenchman? Why was Long John Silver missing a foot? Under what circumstances did J. R. R. Tolkien conceive of a "hobbit"?

In this charming collection of anecdotes, we are taken to the very heart of the mystery of literary creation. For as Virginia Woolf once wrote, "If the characters are real the novel will have a chance." 30 line drawings.