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Neal Thompson

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/NealThompson

born

in Morristown, N.J., The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.NealThompson.com/books/curiousman

twitter username

nealthompson

genre

Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Mystery

member since

January 2010

About this author

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Veteran journalist and author of forthcoming bio of eccentric world-traveling millionaire/playboy cartoonist Robert 'Believe It or Not' Ripley. Here's what Ben Fountain has to saying about A CURIOUS MAN: "Anyone who wants to understand America needs to read this book…Neal Thompson gives us a vivid portrait of this complex, restless man in all his maniacally conflicted glory."
And Karen Abbott: "Intelligent and gripping…Neal Thompson expertly captures the surprisingly complex character of Robert Ripley, and a life nearly too fantastic to be believed."

Learn more or pre-order: http://bit.ly/VrZRFu

Previous books: Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard, America’s First Spaceman (Crown, 2004); Driving with the Devil: Southern Moo...more

41 posts
Neal Thompson's Blog

A WTF! Q&A with Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Well this was fun… chatting with the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! folks for their cool WTF! blog. (No, it actually stands for Weird True Facts.)

Re-purposing the interview. Thanks for the great questions Suzanne!

Q: What sparked your interest in Robert Ripley? Why write a biography on him?

Neal:For starters, I was shocked and psyched to learn that no full-fledged biography of Ripley had even...

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Neal Thompson's Books

Average rating: 3.94 · 354 ratings · 84 reviews · 7 distinct works · Similar authors

	Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 114 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard--America's First Spaceman 3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 114 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley 3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 88 ratings — published 2013 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hurricane Season: A Coach, His Team, and Their Triumph in the Time of Katrina 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2007 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert 'Believe It or Not' Ripley 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hurricane Season: A Coach, His Team, and Their Triumph in the Time of Katrina: A Coach, His Team, and Their Triumph in the Time of Katrina by Neal Thompson (Goodreads Author), David Drummond (Translation) 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2007	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Neal’s Writing

Light This Candle - Chapter 9 (Biographies & Memoirs)

1 chapters — updated May 01, 2011 12:49pm

Description: In advance of this Thursday’s 50th anniversary of the day Alan Shepard became America’s first spaceman, I’ll be posting excerpts from ‘Light This Candle,’ along with photos and links related to Shepard and the book. Here’s a sample from Chap 9

Neal is Currently Reading

Neal is currently reading

Visitation Street

by Ivy Pochoda (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 08, 2013 09:16am

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Neal's Recent Updates

Neal is now friends with Jill Zarend-kubatko
11 hours, 54 min ago · like
Neal rated a book 5 of 5 stars Joyland by Stephen King read in June, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My Amazon Best Book of the Month review, June 2013: What a smart, sweet, spooky, sexy gem of a story. In this one-off for the Hard Case Crime publishing imprint, King has found yet another outlet and format (print only, a zippy 280 pages) to suit his...more
Jun 08, 2013 09:26am · see review
Neal rated a book 5 of 5 stars TransAtlantic by Colum McCann (Goodreads Author) read in June, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My Amazon Best Book of the Month review: McCann’s stunning sixth novel is a brilliant tribute to his loamy, lyrical and complicated Irish homeland, and an ode to the ties that, across time and space, bind Ireland and America. The book begins with thr...more
Jun 08, 2013 09:20am · see review
Neal is currently reading Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 08, 2013 09:16am
Neal made a comment on Also: Shaved my head for summer! "I want to rub it"
May 16, 2013 07:12am · see blog post
Neal wants to read Enon by Paul Harding	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 13, 2013 08:48pm
Neal is now following Dan's reviews
May 10, 2013 10:26am · like
Neal made a comment on GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY Hits 4 NYT Best Seller Lists! This’ll... "rockin! so psyched and proud for the Joe-Nise team"
Apr 11, 2013 08:36am · see blog post
Neal rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Picked as one of our Amazon Best Book of the Month. In my Amazon review I wrote: When a school shooting sends a damaged teen named Linnea to live with her lazy, pot-smoking father in California, she becomes immersed in a world in which everyone nurs...more
Apr 09, 2013 01:22pm · see review