Managers of theRoyal Court Theatre in London are convicted of presenting an unlicenced play, last November's premiere ofEdward Bond'sSaved. This prosecution is considered influential in the abolition of theTheatres Act 1843 under which it is brought.[2]
February 10 – AuthorJacqueline Susann has her first novel,Valley of the Dolls, published. From a friend she obtains a list of the bookstores on whose sales figuresThe New York Times relies for its bestseller list. She then uses her own money to buy large quantities of her book at these stores, causing it to head the list.Valley of the Dolls incidentally comes to rank amongthe best-selling novels of all time.
March 9 –J. R. R. Tolkien writes toRoger Verhulst expressing concerns about a proposed book about him byW. H. Auden, saying, "I regard such things as premature impertinences.... I cannot believe that they have a usefulness to justify the distaste and irritation given to the victim," but adding: "I owe Mr. Auden a debt of gratitude for the generosity with which he has supported and encouraged me since the first appearance ofThe Lord of the Rings."[6]
By June –Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn completes his semi-autobiographical novelCancer Ward («Раковый Корпус»,Rakovy Korpus) and sends the manuscript to the Russian literary magazineNovy Mir. The editor, Tvardosky, equivocates and requests cuts, so Solzhenitsyn arranges for it be distributed assamizdat, then to be discussed at a meeting in Moscow of the Central Writers' Club on November 17.[8]
November 28 –Truman Capote'sBlack and White Ball ("The Party of the Century") is held in New York City. The guest of honor,The Washington Post publisherKatharine Graham, later says: "Truman called me up that summer and said, 'I think you need cheering up. And I'm going to give you a ball.'...I was...sort of baffled....I felt a little bit like Truman was going to give the ball anyway and that I was part of the props."[14]
December –Moskva magazine begins the first publication ofMikhail Bulgakov's novelThe Master and Margarita (Ма́стер и Маргари́та), begun in1928 but left incomplete on the author's death in1940. It appears in two parts with portions omitted or altered.
^Juviler, Peter H. (1998).Freedom's Ordeal: The Struggle for Human Rights and Democracy in Post-Soviet States. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. p. 38.ISBN978-0-8122-3418-3.
^George Plimpton (1997).Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. New York, Doubleday.ISBN0-385-23249-7, p. 248.
^"Martindale, Louisa, (died 5 Feb. 1966), Hon. Consulting Surgeon, Marie Curie Hospital, London; Hon. Consulting Surgeon, New Sussex Hospital, Brighton; Past President Medical Women's International Association; Past President of the Medical Women's Federation",Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01,doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u51610
^Kern, G. (2007)The Kravchenko Case: One Man's War on Stalin, Enigma Books,ISBN978-1-929631-73-5
^Frank O'Connor (1999).My Father's Son. Syracuse University Press. p. 7.ISBN9780815605645.
^Jessica Mann (1981).Deadlier Than the Male: An Investigation Into Feminine Crime Writing. David & Charles. p. 209.ISBN9780715378779.
^Austrian Information. Information Department of the Austrian Consulate General. 1996. p. 5.
