response 26 of 207:

Oct 6 23:37 UTC 1998

C. S. Lewis?

response 28 of 207:

Oct 7 11:50 UTC 1998

Arthur Conan Doyle?

response 30 of 207:

Oct 7 13:19 UTC 1998

Not C.S. Lewis, not Arthur Conan Doyle.

All the guesses so far have been male authors, but that's not the
incorrect assumption I had in mind either. (Note that I'm not saying
whether the assumption that the author is male is correct or not.)

I looked through my copy of one of the author's best-known works but
couldn't find anything that wouldn't be a dead giveaway. So I'll quote
again from something less well-known. It's a little more characteristic
of the themes and style associated with this author than my previous
quotes, however:

        Schmar, the murderer, stationed himself toward nine P.M.,
        in the moonlit night, at the corner where Wese, the victim,
        had to turn from the street where his office was into the
        street he lived on.

        Cold night air sending shudders through everyone. But Schmar
        was wearing only a blue suit; furthermore, his jacket was
        unbuttoned. He felt no cold; besides, he was constantly
        moving. He kept a tight grip on his murder weapon, half
        bayonet, half kitchen knife, fully exposed. He peered at the
        knife against the moonlight; the blade flashed; not enough
        for Schmar; he banged it against the pavement bricks, 
        striking sparks; regretted it perhaps; and to fix the damage,
        he drew the blade over the soles of his boots like a violin
        bow while, standing on one leg and leaning over, he drew the
        blade over the soles of his boots like a violin bow while,
        standing on one leg and leaning over, he also listened to
        the grinding of the knife on his boots, though alert to
        any sound from the fateful side street.

        Why was all this tolerated by Pallas, a private citizen,
        who was nearby, watching everything from his window on the
        second landing? Try and fathom human nature! With his collar
        turned up, his dressing gown belted around his wide waist,
        he peered down, shaking his head.

response 32 of 207:

Oct 7 16:03 UTC 1998

   Racking my little brains, I think it's from the story "Fratricide".

response 34 of 207:

Oct 7 17:46 UTC 1998

drat drat drat. i knew this one. steve got to it first. 
and the ironic thing is I wanted to put some kafka on here if I ever won. 
drat.

response 36 of 207:

Oct 7 19:51 UTC 1998

   Thanks...  I guess I am.  Early on, a teacher in *grade school* suggested
that I read him.  I weirded him out, by saying I'd already read Metamorphosis,
because my mother was in the film. If you ever see it, she is the maid who
walks in to Gregor's room, sees him and lets out a blood curdling scream.

   I'll come up with a quote by tomorrow.  Is that OK, timewise?

response 38 of 207:

Oct 10 05:50 UTC 1998

   Sigh.  The book I thought I had, I don't.  The book that just
slithered out from under the couch is the one I wanted 3 weeks
ago but isn't right for this.

   So it's off to the library tomorrow so I can xox the needed
page(s) for inclusion in this item.

   Forgive my lack of speed here, but I would have bet last
months's salary that I wouldn't have gotten one of these...

response 40 of 207:

Oct 13 13:52 UTC 1998

Yoo hoo, STeve. Don't forget that you're supposed to come up with a 
quote.

response 42 of 207:

Oct 14 13:31 UTC 1998

I have a quote ready if Steve gives up.

response 44 of 207:

Oct 17 11:22 UTC 1998

I think that if STeve doesn't come up with a quote in a couple of days,
it would be reasonable for sekari to go ahead and give one, since he
knew the correct answer but just didn't post it first.

response 46 of 207:

Oct 18 12:55 UTC 1998

(Accordingly, I've emailed him.)

response 48 of 207:

Oct 22 14:20 UTC 1998

It's been a few days, and STeve has neither entered a quote here nor 
responded to my reminder mail (unless I missed it - I get a lot of 
mail). So I think we should move on and someone enter another quote. My 
feeling is that sekari has first dibs if he wants, since he knew the 
previous author but wasn't fast enough.

response 50 of 207:

Oct 24 01:42 UTC 1998

It's been a few hours, and sekari hasn't dug up anything.