William Soutar, but he was bedridden with ankylosing spondylitis, it wasn't a choice.

Is Pynchon really a recluse? I thought he just doesn't want the general public to know where he is.

Good one!

As for Pynchon, I think you're right. there's a difference between "recluse" and someone who just wants some privacy. Maybe the same could be said for Salinger... just wanted a break from the public eye.

Elena Ferante (author of My Brilliant Friend series) is quite reclusive. Her true identity and true name is speculated for years.

Thanks for the tip! Always good to discover new writers... even if their true selves remain hidden. I actually have a friend who writes YA romance under a pseudonym. She's apparently quite successful (not surprising for anyone who knows her), but not even her closest friends have any idea who she is. Perhaps the anonymity affords her the freedom to truly express her inner feelings?

Interesting thread! Im not that knowledgeable about reclusive writers myself though

Thanks! I just started thinking about them this week, wondering if perhaps some have a lonesome predisposition, given the solitary nature of their craft. Philip Roth was another private guy... so too Hemingway, later in life, and Hunter S. Thompson.

Cormac McCarthy is another (in)famously shy fella... though I think he really just prefers to write, rather than talking about it.

Im definitely not sure about it, but I would bet my money on Murakami being a loner

Interesting theory. Makes me think of that fascinating Japanese socio-cultural phenomenon, "hikikomori," characterized as a "severe form of social withdrawal," particularly prevalent among adolescents and young adults.

I'm uneducated on all things Murakami though...

Basically simply because pretty much all of his characters are loners, not quite like hikikomoris though, so I would not be surprised if hes similar.

Shirley Jackson famously suffered anxiety and agoraphobia, which comes out in her final book We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Another writer in whose work I'm woefully undereducated. Thanks for the tip!

Hi there. Per rule 3.1, Promotional posts and/or comments need to meet the promotional rules requirements: please see the wiki for more details. Thank you!

In the case of Elena Ferante, with so many awards she won and even the novel is on going adapted into famous HBO TV series, I am still surprised her (or maybe his!) identity is still unknown (or at least inconclusive).

Based on her novel, many scenes are too detail for the specific time. Yeah, many people think it's semi-autobiography. Her anonymity helps it.