Author Unknown
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| Author(s) | Donald W. Foster |
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| Subtitle | On the Trail of Anonymous |
| Publisher | Henry Holt & Company |
| Honors | |
| Don Foster is the world’s first literary detective. Realizing that everyone’s use of language is as distinctive as his or her DNA, Foster developed a revolutionary methodology for identifying the writer behind almost any anonymous document. Now, in this enthralling book, he explains his techniques and invites readers to sit by his side as he searches a mysterious text for the clues that whisper the author’s name. Foster’s unique skills first came to light when a front-page New York Times article announced his discovery that a previously unattributed poem was… | |
Don Foster is the world’s first literary detective. Realizing that everyone’s use of language is as distinctive as his or her DNA, Foster developed a revolutionary methodology for identifying the writer behind almost any anonymous document. Now, in this enthralling book, he explains his techniques and invites readers to sit by his side as he searches a mysterious text for the clues that whisper the author’s name.
Foster’s unique skills first came to light when a front-page New York Times article announced his discovery that a previously unattributed poem was written by Shakespeare. A few weeks later, Foster solved the mystery that had obsessed America for months when he identified Joe Klein as the author of Primary Colors. Foster also took on a case involving the elusive Thomas Pynchon. And his contributions to the Unabomber and JonBent Ramsey cases have led the FBI and several police forces to hire him to train their organizations.
Introducing a fascinating new field of forensics, Author Unknown will appeal to mystery fans-and to everyone interested in words and the writer’s craft.
In Author Unknown, Don Foster shows how he:
—Investigated an Elizabethan murder mystery-and proved a forgotten poem was written by William Shakespeare
—Identified “Anonymous,” the author of Primary Colors-and what happened behind the scenes when Joe Klein denied it
—Helped the prosecution prove that the Unabomber’s manifesto was written by Ted Kaczynski-and how the bomber might have been caught sooner
—Solved the mystery of whether Thomas Pynchon was posing as a bag lady named Wanda Tinasky
—Analyzed the famous Lewinsky-Tripp “talking points,” and explained Kenneth Starr’s inability to unravel the mystery
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
This fascinating book describes how an English professor became a detective, sort of. Don Foster still teaches literature at Vassar College, but he’s recognized as an expert in attributional theory—the idea that everybody has literary fingerprints, or, as he puts it, “no two individuals write exactly the same way, using the same words in the same combinations, or with the same patterns of spelling and punctuation.” Foster is now an expert at identifying anonymous authors. He fell into this line of work accidentally. As a graduate student who spent his days reading forgotten Elizabethan texts, Foster stumbled upon “A Funeral Elegy” by one “W.S.” Through careful research, recounted in Author Unknown, he showed that it was, in fact, a long-lost poem of Shakespeare’s. His claim was controversial; a chapter on this experience is as much a lesson in academic politics as attribution theory. “To propose an addition to the Shakespeare canon is like announcing that you’ve found a lost book of the Bible, due for inclusion in future editions,” he writes. “History shows that it is usually the attributor who gets burned.” For Foster, however, it became a launching pad.
In what is his most interesting chapter, Foster explains how he deduced Joe Klein was “Anonymous,” the author of the bestselling book Primary Colors. He also became involved in the Unabomber case and a search for the identity of the mysterious novelist Thomas Pynchon. Foster is sometimes said to use computer programs to determine an author’s identity, but this is only partly true: he employs searchable databases, and then conducts all of the comparative analysis himself. “Give anonymous offenders enough verbal rope and column inches, and they will hang themselves for you, every time,” he writes. The first three chapters—focusing on Shakespeare, Klein, and the Unabomber—are the best part of the book; the rest of it, at times, feels like filler. Yet as a whole, Author Unknown is a compelling blend of autobiography, detective story, and literary analysis. —John J. Miller
