“Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms” (Harper/HarperCollins), by Carmela Ciuraru: In the annals of literature, pen names have long created as much intrigue about the authors as the pieces ...

In the annals of literature, pen names have long created as much intrigue about the authors as the pieces they write. Carmela Ciuraru’s “Nom de Plume” deftly tells the stories of some of literature’s ...

At its most basic level, a pseudonym is a prank. Yet the motives that lead writers to assume an alias are infinitely complex, sometimes mysterious even to them. Names are loaded, full of pitfalls and ...

“The obvious trouble with pen names … even with the most inspired and impressive ones, was that they somehow failed to convey truly the full extent of one’s literary genius,” said Romain Gary, the ...

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Even before a page of a story is turned, a fiction may already have been told. The nom de plume or ...

Don’t worry: No actual ghosts are harmed in the process of “ghost roasting.” The term refers to Nom de Plume Roasters’ low-overhead business model. Rather than making the (cough, cough, crazy ...

In the annals of literature, pen names have long created as much intrigue about the authors as the pieces they write. Carmela Ciuraru's "Nom de Plume" deftly tells the stories of some of literature's ...

Imagine this: You are on the second-to-last page of Carmela Ciuraru's "Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms" and wishing you weren't because this book is such great fun when what should ...