Writers and Lost Manuscripts: A History
Louis de Bernière's laptop was stolen from his home in Norfolk, England last week while he was at the Edinburgh Book Festival. On the hard drive were the first 50 pages of his next novel, which was in it's fourth re-write. de Bernière, the author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, is offering a reward of 500 pounds for the return of the computer. The incident prompted British author James Owen to examine the experiences of authors like Hemingway, Keillor, Thomas Carlyle and others under similar circumstances. Owen discovered that technology only expanded the possibilities of disaster.