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B. Traven

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Author

The Resume

    (circa 1882-March 26, 1969)
    Resided in Mexico
    Wrote the novels ‘The Death Ship’ (1926), ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (1927) and ‘The White Rose’ (1929)

Why he might be annoying:

    He made J.D. Salinger look like a publicity hound.
    He thoroughly obscured his past history and identity.
    The most likely theory is that he was really Ret Marut, an actor and anarchist who disappeared from Germany after the collapse of a Communist revolt in Bavaria in 1919.
    Ret Marut was itself (probably) a pseudonym, providing further layers of mystery.
    Other, more dubious theories about his real identity include that he was the out of wedlock son of Kaiser Wilhelm II or he was the American author Jack London, who had faked his 1916 death.
    He claimed the English versions of his books were the originals, even though most of them were first published in German.
    Oddly, the English versions of his novels contain hints that the author’s first language is German, while the German versions of his novels contain hints that the author’s first language is English.
    When he had to deal with the outside world – such as discussing the film version of ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ with John Huston -- he posed as Hal Croves, Traven’s cousin and literary agent.
    After his death, his widow revealed that Traven and Croves were the same person, and said that he had been born Berick Traven Torsvan in Chicago on March 5, 1890.
    The Chicago records of vital statistics do not show anyone with that name being born on that date. (Not really a surprise at this point, is it?)
    One would-be biographer wrote, ‘As I've had to grope and blind-feel my way through impenetrable biographical labyrinths, I began to resent the person responsible for creating them.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He criticized the exploitation and persecution of Mexican Indians.
    His books were banned in Nazi Germany.
    His novella ‘The Healer’ was named the best short story of the year by the New York Times (1953).
    A journalist trying to prove that Croves and Traven were the same person bribed the postman who delivered Croves’ mail. (The journalist learned, among other clues, that a package from Upton Sinclair addressed to Traven had been delivered to Croves, as had several of Traven’s royalty checks.)
    He said, ‘The creative person should have no other biography than his works.’

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying