This is a list of unpublished books by notable people, alphabetized by author. These notable people may be published authors, but not necessarily.

Unpublished fiction

Sholem Aleichem Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (; May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish language, Yiddish and , also spelled in Yiddish orthography#Reform and standardization, Soviet Yiddish, ; Russian language, Russian and ), ...

: '' Motl, Peysi the Cantor's Son'', left unfinished at the time of his death * Charles Alverson: ''The Word'', ''Caleb'' and ''Lost in Austin'' * Allen Appel: ''Sea of Time'' (1988), unpublished novel in the published Alex Balfour Pastmaster series * L. Frank Baum: ''Our Married Life'' (1912), ''Johnson'' (1912), ''The Mystery of Bonita'' (1914) and ''Molly Oodle'' (1915). Reported in Katherine Rogers' ''L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz'' and Michael Patrick Hearn's ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz''. According to Hearn, although not a published statement, ''The Mystery of Bonita'' is mentioned in contracts related to The Oz Film Manufacturing Company. The others are noted on file folders that once contained them and correspondence recovered from the Reilly & Lee offices, but the manuscripts themselves remain lost. The books were intended for adult readers and correspondence for the first of these, ''Our Married Life'', indicates that, unlike his four published adult novels, he did not want these books to appear under a pseudonym. Frank Joslyn Baum's biography of L. Frank, ''To Please a Child'', claims that Maud Gage Baum burned Baum's unpublished manuscripts; however, it is known that much of this biography was falsified after Frank J. and Maud's falling out (including Frank J. being dropped from Maud's will) over the rights to the Oz books. * Mildred Benson: ''The Runaway Sea Lion'' (1964) * Amy Bishop: three novels, including ''The Martian Experiment'' (a.k.a. ''If Bullets Were Gold'') and ''Amazon Fever'' *

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...

: ''The God of the Martians'' *

Harold Brodkey Harold Brodkey (October 25, 1930 – January 26, 1996), born Aaron Roy Weintraub, was an American short-story writer and novelist. Life Aaron Weintraub was the second child to his Jewish parents Max Weintraub and Celia Glazer Weintraub (1899-1 ...

: ''A Party of Animals'', a 2000-page manuscript in 1976 later published in a different form *

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an cultural icon, icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob cut, bob hairstyle that she helped ...

: ''Naked on My Goat'', autobiographical novel *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

: ''A Fine Madness'', a novel which Brown says "never found a publisher" *

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

: ''The Poet'' *

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

: ''Fountain City'', abandoned after 1,500 pages but then inspired Chabon's '' Wonder Boys'' *

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs ...

: ''The Swimmer'', after writing 150 pages of this novel, Cheever reduced it to a 12-page short story *

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...

: ''Byzantium'', a novel divided into three volumes; "Sailing to Byzantium", "Night's Islands" and "Ghost Dancer" *

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

: ''The Ruling Passion'' and ''Hell Hath No Fury'', both in a legal battle with

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

which Collins won in 1996 *

Henry Darger Henry Joseph Darger Jr. ( ; April 12, 1892 – April 13, 1973) was an American writer, novelist and artist who worked as a hospital janitor, custodian in Chicago, Illinois. He has become famous for his posthumously recovered 15,145-page manuscri ...

: ''In the Realms of the Unreal'' (totaling more than 15,000 pages) and ''Crazy House: Further Adventures in Chicago'' (totaling more than 10,000 pages). His ''History of My Life'' (began as nonfiction) totals more than 4600 pages. *

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

: ''Voyage, Orestes!'', massive early mimetic fiction novel, both manuscript copies lost; a small excerpt was found and published in 2019 * Philip K. Dick: '' A Time for George Stavros'' and '' Nicholas and the Higs'', both lost manuscripts, and ''

The Owl in Daylight ''The Owl in Daylight'' is a novel Philip K. Dick was writing at the time of his death in 1982. He had already been paid an advance for the book by the publisher and was working against a deadline. After his death, his estate approached other wri ...

'', uncompleted at the time of his death * Lee Duncan: rough draft of an autobiography by the trainer of

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (October 10, 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, ...

* Ken Grimwood: untitled sequel to '' Replay'', in progress at the time of his death, and a collaboration with Tom Atwill *

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an People of the United States, American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles ...

: ''Eamon Diaz and the Vampire Queen'' *

Donald Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction, but also crime ...

: '' The Dominators'' * V. T. Hamlin: ''The Devil's Daughter'' *

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

: '' The Poor Man and the Lady'', Hardy's first novel (1867); rejected by five publishers and manuscript later destroyed * L. Ron Hubbard: ''

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

'', an earlier version of his '' Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'' *

Geoffrey Jenkins Geoffrey Ernest Jenkins (16 June 1920 – 7 November 2001) was a South African journalist, novelist and screenwriter. His wife Eve Palmer, with whom he collaborated on several works, wrote numerous non-fiction works about Southern Africa. Ear ...

: '' Per Fine Ounce'', a commissioned

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

novel circa 1966; the copyright holders rejected the novel, claiming that it was "unpublishable" *

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

: '' The Aftermath'' (1963 novella), '' Sword in the Darkness'' (1970 novel) and '' The House on Value Street'' (1974 novel based on the Patty Hearst kidnapping) *

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and sati ...

: '' Ride the Storm'', third in the Moonlight Bay Trilogy *

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His Debut novel, first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, ...

: ''Heroes'', 125-page novel which he wrote while in high school *

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

: '' Scorpion and Felix'', an unpublished and now fragmentary comedic novel (1837) *

Hugh MacLennan John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award. Family and childhood MacLennan was born in Glace B ...

: ''So All Their Praises'' and ''A Man Should Rejoice'' *

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

: '' Holy Wood'' *

Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael Palahniuk (;, , born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two ad ...

: ''Insomnia: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Already'' *

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

: ''For Some We Loved'' (1944), about New York advertising agencies; burned by author, who described it as "a long, complicated, and very bad novel" * J.D. Salinger: He continued writing through the last half-century of his long life, while he lived as a

recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion and solitude. The word is from the Latin , which means 'to open' or 'disclose'. Examples of recluses are Symeon of Trier, who lived within the great Roman gate Porta Nigra with permissio ...

. This consists of as one or two unpublished novels and possibly more than fifteen. *

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

: ''The Education of Albie Snow'', a semi-autobiographical 1000-page, three-volume work * C. P. Snow: 1950–51 novel deleted from the '' Strangers and Brothers'' series *

Francis Spufford Francis Spufford FRSL (born 1964) is an English author and teacher of writing whose career has shifted gradually from non-fiction to fiction. His first novel '' Golden Hill'' received critical acclaim and numerous prizes including the Costa Bo ...

: ''The Stone Table'', an unofficial addition to

the Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

. Arguably a published work, as Spufford has distributed copies to friends. * William Styron: ''The Way of the Warrior'', a much-revised

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

novel * Hunter S. Thompson: '' Prince Jellyfish'' *

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

: ''If God Were Alive Today'', unfinished novel about a wisecracking lecturer to college students *

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

: '' The Temple at Thatch'', destroyed by Waugh * Doodles Weaver: ''Golden Spike'' *

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

: ''Literature'' *

Charles Willeford Charles Ray Willeford III (January 2, 1919 – March 27, 1988) was an American writer. An author of fiction, poetry, autobiography and literary criticism, Willeford wrote a series of novels featuring hardboiled detective fiction, detective Hoke ...

: '' Grimhaven'', sequel to ''

Miami Blues ''Miami Blues'' is a 1990 American neo-noir black comedy crime drama film directed by George Armitage, based on the novel of the same name by Charles Willeford. It stars Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward (who also served as an executive producer) a ...

'' * Jerry Yulsman: ''Gotham'', in progress at the time of his death

Unpublished nonfiction

* Robert Aickman: ''Panacea: The Synthesis of an Attitude'', a lengthy philosophical work * F. Lee Bailey: a memoir about his defense of Patty Hearst * Calvin Beck: ''Sense of Wonder'', a survey of 1940s fantasy films * Jack Bradbury: autobiography about working in animation and comic books * Barry Brown: ''Unsung Heroes of the Horrors'', interview profiles of actors *

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...

: ''But What I Really I Want to Do is Direct: My First Picture Shows 1965–1971'', a memoir detailing his life and career as a director * Buff Cobb: ''Memoirs of a Subdeb in Hollywood'' * Lee Duncan: rough draft of an autobiography by the trainer of

* John Howard Griffin: ''Scattered Shadows'', a memoir about the author's blindness *

Napoleon Hill Oliver Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American self-help author. He is best known for his book ''Think and Grow Rich'' (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted tha ...

: ''Outwitting The Devil'' (1970) * V. T. Hamlin: ''The Man Who Walked with Dinosaurs'' (autobiography) and ''Four Rivers'' (fishing memoir) *

JP Miller James Pinckney Miller (December 18, 1919 – November 1, 2001) was an American writer whose pen name was "JP Miller". He was a leading playwright during the Golden Age of Television, receiving three Emmy nominations. A novelist and screenwriter, ...

: ''A Ship Without a Shore'', memoir of Miller's

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

experiences aboard the aircraft carrier *

Fulton Oursler Charles Fulton Oursler Sr. (January 22, 1893 – May 24, 1952) was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an author of mysteries and detective fiction. His son was the journalist and author Wi ...

: autobiography in progress at the time of his death *

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

: ''The Winning of the West'': Roosevelt's series was originally meant to be at least six books. Due to the death of his first wife, Roosevelt edited the series to conclude at four volumes. * Kay Sage: ''China Eggs'', a memoir of 1910–35, covering her family, childhood, travels, painting, life in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, her marriage to Prince Ranieri di San Faustino and her friendship with

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

.Archives of American Art
/ref> * Yvette Vickers: autobiography in progress at the time of her death *

Fredric Wertham Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German–American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafa ...

: ''The War on Children''

References

{{Reflist

External links

BBC News: "Winterson novel 'left at station'", March 8, 2007''Ruthy'' by Elaine Rothman (excerpt)
Unpublished books by notable authors *

Unpublished fiction

Unpublished nonfiction

See also

References

External links