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The prolific Belgian-born writer Georges Simenon produced hundreds of fictional works under his own name and 17 pseudonyms, in addition to more than 70 books about Inspector Maigret, long "the favorite sleuth of highbrow detective-story readers" (SR). More than 50 "Simenons" have been made into films. In addition to his mystery stories, he wrote what he called "hard" books, the serious psychological novels numbering well over 100. The autobiographical Pedigree, set in his native town of Liege, is perhaps his finest work. The publication of Simenon's intimate memoirs also attracted considerable attention. Simenon himself once said that he would never write a "great novel." Yet Gide called him "a great novelist, perhaps the greatest and truest novelist we have in French literature today," and Thornton Wilder (see Vol. 1) found that Simenon's narrative gift extends "to the tips of his fingers." The following are some of Simenon's novels, exclusive of the Maigret detective stories, that are in print. (Bowker Author Biography) Georges Simenon was born on February 13, 1903 in Liege, Belgium. He wrote more than 200 fiction works under 16 different pseudonyms. His first book, The Case of Peter the Lent led to 80 more of the like including the main character, Inspector Maigret. He published over 400 books that were translated into 50 different languages and sold by the millions. He also wrote psychological novels, including The Man Who Watched the Train Go By. He died on September 4, 1989 in Lausanne. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Pietr the Latvian… (more)
Georges Simenon was born at Liege in Belgium in 1903. At sixteen he began work as a journalist on the Gazette de Liege. He has published 158 books, many of them psychological novels and others in the Inspector Maigret series, and his work has been admired by almost all the leading French and English critics. His books have been translated into twenty-three languages and forty-four of them have been filmed; his psychological novels have had a great influence on the French cinema. He has travelled all over the world, and at one time lived on a cutter making long journeys of exploration round the coasts of Northern Europe. He is married and has three children. His recreations are riding, fishing, and golf. Taken from 1959 Penguin book jacket of My Friend Maigret.
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