Five top books about what was happening behind the scenes of famous novels

At B&N Reads Jeff Somers tagged "five absorbing investigations into what was happening behind the scenes of five famous novels," including:

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller’s Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood, by Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley, Jr.

More than 75 years after its publication, it can be difficult for modern readers to understand the phenomenon that was Gone With the Wind when it was first published in 1936. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was an instant bestseller, and was quickly adapted into the epic film many of us know better than the book. Brown and Wiley don’t waste time retreading the life of Mitchell, but rather focus on the mechanics of how a debut novel from an unknown writer became an instant pop culture smash that has maintained its grip on public consciousness ever since.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue