Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
You know those books like Write a Novel on Your Lunch Break or Plot a Novel on Used Kleenex in 30 Days or Less? (We made those titles up, but for all we know they'll exist by the time you read this.) Some real authors actually read those. Judith Guest was inspired to write Ordinary People by the book One Way to Write Your Novel. She thought she already knew how, so she set about to prove it, taking three years to write Ordinary People, her first novel. (Source)
If ordinary people were banned from school, who would attend classes? Well, everyone would, since there is no such thing as "ordinary." But if Ordinary People was banned, well, the American Library Association would certainly hear about it. This book was the 52nd most-challenged book in school and libraries from 1990-1999, narrowly beating 53rd place American Psycho. What does it say about us as a society if we're more concerned with a book about suburban angst than a book where a man beats someone to death while listening to Whitney Houston? (Source)
Judith Guest has published other novels, and families falling apart is a recurring motif for her. Her novel Errands is about a handful of families disintegrating after death, disease, and divorce. The Tarnished Eye centers around a whole family being murdered. And Second Heaven is about an abused child. Good thing she's a novelist, because Judith Guest would be terrible at writing Hallmark cards. (Source)