The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein
The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein is a 2007 book written and published by John Lauritsen, in which the author argues that the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, not his wife Mary Shelley, is the real author of "Frankenstein" (1818), that the novel "has consistently been underrated and misinterpreted", and that its dominant theme is "male love". Lauritsen maintains that handwriting cannot be used to determine the actual author of "Frankenstein". His work received positive reviews in gay publications. However, some commentators in other publications rejected Lauritsen's views and supported the conventional view that "Frankenstein" was written by Mary Shelley.
Frankenstein authorship question
The authorship issue was revived in 1974 when drafts and proofs of the novel revealed that some sections were written in Percy Bysshe Shelley's handwriting. James Rieger, an English professor and editor, in a publication of the original 1818 edition in 1974, republished in 1982, argued that Shelley made significant contributions to the novel and should be regarded at least as a "minor collaborator" or even as a collaborator: "His assistance at every point in the book's manufacture was so extensive that one hardly knows whether to regard him as editor or minor collaborator. ... Percy Bysshe Shelley worked on "Frankenstein" at every stage, from the earliest drafts through the printer's proofs, with Mary's final 'carte blanche to make what alterations you please.' ... We know that he was more than an editor. Should we grant him the status of minor collaborator?" He claimed that Shelley was intricately and minutely involved in the composition of the novel from the outset.