Last week the literary rumor mill was given a serious boost by literary critic Art Winslow, who upon reading Cow Country, released by a little known book publisher and under the pseudonym Adrian Jones Pearson, became convinced that the book was a performance stunt by writer Thomas Pynchon. Aside from any similarities between this novel and the Pynchon-cannon, the similarity of the novel’s title and the publisher’s name, Cow Eye Press, seems at the least a strange coincidence and at the most a nod to the fact that the publishing house was only created in order to release Pearson’s book. Add to this the equally eyebrow raising and recursive biography of the author (“Adrian Jones Pearson is an independent author ofidiosyncratic fiction. His work has been published under multiple pseudonyms, including this one.), and it’s easy to see, if not how Winslow came to decide it was Pynchon, then at least how Winslow came to wonder at Pearson’s true identity.
So far, no one has confirmed the identity of Pearson, and those close to Pynchon are denying claims that he had anything to do with Cow Country. It’s hard to say whether the reading public will ever get a satisfactory answer.  However, famous writers releasing books under pseudonyms is not an unusual occurrence.  Here’s a list of seven authors who did just that.

J.K. Rowling is a pen name more famous than Rowling’s actual name, Joanne, which her publisher suggested would not appeal to the Harry Potter series’ proposed key demographic, young boys. Following the monumental success of the series, Rowling published a crime novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, under the male-sounding pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Since then, Galbraith has gone on to write two more books, the most recent of which, Career of Evil, will be released in October.

Stephen King is well known for being prolific, taking only into account the novels he’s published under his own name.  But in 1977 he began publishing novels under his pseudonym Richard Bachman.  The reason, amazing as it may sound, was that King wanted to write and publish two books a year, and his publisher’s told him that it was only acceptable to release one.  Richard Bachman was a way around this constraint, and he published four novels before he was outed as yet another Stephen King creation in 1985.  Since then, he’s published two.

Crichton, perhaps best known for Jurassic Park, began writing under two pseudonyms, John Lange and Jeffrey Hudson, while in med school. Unlike the previous authors on this list, Crichton began his career with these pen names and used them consistently until the mid seventies, when he began using his own name to great success.

Though one of the quintessential mystery writers in literary history, with 66 novels and 14 story collections, Agatha Christie also wrote six romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.  Though a different genre, the Westmacott books are written with the same quality as the rest of her canon and are therefore well-worth checking out for the casual Christie fan (the more-than-casual fan has probably already read them.) 

Anne Rice writing as Anne Rampling
Anne Rice is well known for her Vampire Chronicles books, which serves as the basis for two feature films—“Interview with the Vampire” and “Queen of the Damned.”  She’s also written erotic novels under two pen names. Anne Rampling is on the cover of Exit to Eden and Belinda, and A.N. Roquelaurecan be found on the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy.

The legendary writer, like many on this list, has at one time questioned whether her novels were being published based on her amassing reputation and notability. or whether they were being published for their quality. The question led to an experiment with the pseudonym Rosamond Smith. She sold Smith’s novel, Lives of the Twins in 1986, but before the book was published, her cover was blown.  Not even her publisher new that Smith and Oates were the same person. She vowed, at the time, to never use a pseudonym again. Since then, she’s published seven books as Rosamond Smith and three as Lauren Kelly.

Since publishing her first novel in 1992 Elena Ferrante has kept her (or his, or their?) true identity a secret, which is astounding, considering that Ferrante is widely regarded as one of the most important Italian writers of her generation. Her quartet, dubbed the Neapolitan Novels, and its acclaimed reception has only intensified the speculation and desire to know Ferrante’s true identity.

It seems at this point that pseudonyms are a literary tradition. There are so many writers who have used pen names—some discovered and some still keeping the secret—that it’s difficult to make an exhaustive list.  Let us know what famous pen names you’d like to add. And if you know any secrets, be sure and let us know that too. 
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