Monday, March 30, 2020

Karl May on This Day in History


This Day in History: This day in history: Karl May died on this day in 1912. May was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonist was Winnetou the Apache chief. He was a big deal in his time, selling 200 million copies of his books, and he was a favorite of Hitler and Einstein. Though his novels were set in the Wild West, Karl May never actually went to America. One German writer calls him "an impostor, a liar and a thief -- and one of Germany's most widely read authors. He embellished his own biography with as much fantasy as the scenarios in his adventure novels, and when the deceit was finally exposed, he never recovered. But his legend lives on." Perhaps that's a harsh assessment as I believe that describes many writers. 

See also: Buffalo Bill & the American Wild West, 200 Books on DVDrom
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/buffalo-bill-american-wild-west-200.html

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