The Protagonist: Surprises of the Literary World

Literature never fails to surprise its readers, which is why The Protagonist has compiled this list of succulent "did'ja knows" of the world of word. Hopefully at least a couple of these hilarious, erotic and/or gruesome tidbits come as newfound knowledge to our readers: --Arnold Schwarzenegger has a memoir titled Total Recall --[There is legitimately a magazine called "Modern Drunkard"](http://www.drunkard.com/) --Cormac McCarthy has appeared on "Oprah" -- "The Oprah Effect" refers to skyrocketing sales of books which have been featured by Oprah, leaving some publishers in serious distress over the now-defunct show --The Strand bookstore near Union Square allegedly has 18 miles of books [--The number of American adults reading literature is the highest it's been since 2002 ](http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/writing-careers-1212) --J.K Rowling is wealthier than the Queen of England (OK--not really a surprise to anyone) [--According to scholars, Walt Whitman rarely left his room ](http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/28/specials/dillard-drop.html) [--Tom Wolfe is notoriously bad at writing sex scenes (read -- and shudder -- at your own risk)](http://jezebel.com/5962639/the-bad-sex-awards-snubbed-fifty-shades-of-grey-this-year) [--This letter from Kurt Vonnegut to a friend about to start teaching at the University of Iowa](http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_vault/2012/11/20/Vonnegut.jpg.CROP.article920-large.jpg) [--Political speech-writing is shockingly literary (shades of Chekhov anyone?) ](http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/the-political-speechwriters-life/?hp) --The average American audience averages about a seventh-grade reading level [--Dissection on Display: Cadavers, Anatomists, and Public Spectacle by Christine Quigley is a book devoted to dissection as entertainment](http://www.cultofweird.com/books/dissection-on-display/)