Portal:Literature/Did you know/Week 24

... that a recurring theme in Eric Ambler's books is having as the main character an amateur who finds himself unwillingly in the company of hardened criminals and/or spies?

... that the title of Bernard MacLaverty's short story about a philosophy don, "Language, Truth and Lockjaw", is an allusion to A. J. Ayer's 1936 seminal work of philosophy, Language, Truth, and Logic? [1]

... that the clerihew was invented by E. C. Bentley?

... that a proscenium arch is a square frame around a raised stage area in traditional theatres which represents a style of theatre which has persisted since the 17th century but has become an almost derogatory term to many modern dramatists?

... that Moral is a 1909 comedy by Bavarian author Ludwig Thoma?

... that the dictum, "Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur", is ascribed to 1st century Roman satirist Petronius?

... that Notes of a Dirty Old Man is a 1969 book by Charles Bukowski, and that his creation — some say alter ego — Henry Chinaski has been ranked among the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900?