Gilbert Young, most rejected author ever
Gilbert Young first came to the attention of the British press in the 1960s as a crusader for a single world government. He ran repeatedly for various political offices but never won an election.
Below is an ad he placed in the papers seeking new members for his "World Government Party."
But his real claim to fame came in the mid 1970s when the editors of the Guinness Book of Records learned that, for years, Young had been trying to get his book published but had only received rejections from publishers. His book, World Government Crusade, had, by 1974, been rejected 80 times. So Guinness listed him in its 1975 edition as the record holder for the "greatest recorded number of publisher's rejections for a manuscript."
For over fifteen years Guinness continued to list him as the holder of this record. Every few years it would update the number of his rejections. By 1990 his book had been rejected 242 times.
I thought that perhaps Young's book would now be available to read or purchase somewhere on the Internet. But no, as far as I can tell it's still unavailable.
Below is an ad he placed in the papers seeking new members for his "World Government Party."
Bristol Daily Press - Jan 29, 1964
But his real claim to fame came in the mid 1970s when the editors of the Guinness Book of Records learned that, for years, Young had been trying to get his book published but had only received rejections from publishers. His book, World Government Crusade, had, by 1974, been rejected 80 times. So Guinness listed him in its 1975 edition as the record holder for the "greatest recorded number of publisher's rejections for a manuscript."
Bristol Daily Press - Sep 26, 1974
Guinness Book of Records 1975
For over fifteen years Guinness continued to list him as the holder of this record. Every few years it would update the number of his rejections. By 1990 his book had been rejected 242 times.
Guinness Book of Records 1991
I thought that perhaps Young's book would now be available to read or purchase somewhere on the Internet. But no, as far as I can tell it's still unavailable.
Comments
So, rejected by the Internet.
Posted by F.U.D. in Stockholm on 05/14/24 at 03:41 AM
F.U.D
Now that takes some doing. I just checked. He's not on the Internet himself. Another Gilbert Young, African-American artist has at least the first few pages of DuckDuckGo sewn up. When they mentioned his best known work is "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" I realized why.
Now that takes some doing. I just checked. He's not on the Internet himself. Another Gilbert Young, African-American artist has at least the first few pages of DuckDuckGo sewn up. When they mentioned his best known work is "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" I realized why.
Posted by eddi on 05/14/24 at 04:20 AM
I'm not surprised! 150,000 words!? Even Das Kapital only clocks in at just over two-thirds of that.
Posted by Richard Bos on 05/18/24 at 01:41 PM
Category: Eccentrics | Politics | World Records | Books