Chatar Chadur (°1956) is a best-selling Qilwennian author, best known for his Mirror Man-series. He lives in Qilwen, writes books and sells best.
Chadur's real name is John Ironfist. He came up with the name Chatar Chadur because it sounded cooler, more exotic and more poetic.
Where and when[]
Usually he is in Qilwen when writing a book, but sometimes he is somewhere else. Also, his books don't just sell best in Qilwen, they sell best outside of it as well. It is important to note the chronology here: Chadur writes a book first and then it sells best. Yet, when the book sells best, it causes the author to write another book. Thus a chain reaction is created, leaving people in oblivion concerning what exactly was there first: the book or the best-selling book? Smart people say it resembles the issue of the chicken and the egg. Dumb people say they don't care as long as they both tast good in their bellies. Note that the aspect of place, Qilwen to be precise, has nothing to do with this matter.
Why[]
Needless to say Chadur writes popular books, otherwise they wouldn't sell best, right? Note that the aspect of literary quality has nothing to do with this matter. Also note that taste is highly subjective, which makes it lowly objective. Still, writing has made Chadur rich, and he hopes to stay that way in the future, motivating him to keep doing what he does best: writing best-selling books that sell best. Chadur says that when people stop reading his work, he'll stop writing. Critics of his work interpret that as a promise and say they will start writing when Chadur stops. Chadur's publishers say they'll be more than happy to publish their work if their books are best-sellers. Chadur proposed ghost-writing the critics' work to ensure selling best if it will earn him more money than the critics. The publishers commented that they don't care who makes the more money, as long as it's them. Pacifists agree as long as there's no violence or courage involved.
What[]
Chadur started out writing poetry but since that didn't sell best, he started writing novels. Ever since then it's been all good.
- Eternally Yours... (poetry, 1988)
- On a Clear Day (poetry, 1990)
- Dead by Dawn (novel, 1994)
- Thank Your Lucky Stars (novel, 1997)
- The Mirror Man - a novel (a novel, 1999)
- The Mirror Man Returns (novel, 2001)
- My Life in the Movies (semi-fictional work, in which Chadur imagines himself as a movie star, 2002)
- Shattered Glass: Fall of the Mirror Man (novel, 2004)
- Size Doesn't Matter (a collection of best-selling short stories, 2005)
- The "I" in Rise (autobiography, covering the road to his success, 2007)
Chadur is currently working on the fourth installment in his Mirror Man-series. The novel is planned to be released late 2008 or early 2009 and will probably feature the words "mirror", "man" and "glue" in its title.
Major theme[]
One gigantically jumbo theme in the work of Chadur is something called blissful transcendence, or "happy death" as the author calls it. Happy death is often expressed symbolically within his work, for example through images of graves sprinkled with oranges, or fluffy stuffed cats and well-dressed bumblebees.