Helene Hanff’s Followers (709)

Helene Hanff

Born

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The United States

April 15, 1916

Died

April 09, 1997

Genre

Biographies & Memoirs

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Helene Hanff (April 15, 1916–April 9, 1997) was an American writer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is best known as the author of the book 84 Charing Cross Road, which became the basis for a play, teleplay, and film of the same name.

Her career, which saw her move from writing unproduced plays to helping create some of the earliest television dramas to becoming a kind of professional New Yorker, goes far beyond the charm of that one book. She called her 1961 memoir Underfoot in Show Business, and it chronicled the struggle of an ambitious young playwright to make it in the world of New York theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. She worked in publicists' offices and spent summers on the "straw hat" circuit along the East Coast of the Unite ...more

Combine Editions
Helene Hanff’s books

Average rating: 4.15 · 108,979 ratings · 17,780 reviews · 27 distinct works • Similar authors

	84, Charing Cross Road 4.16 avg rating — 95,924 ratings — published 1970 — 161 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street 4.03 avg rating — 8,191 ratings — published 1973 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Q's Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books 4.05 avg rating — 2,247 ratings — published 1985 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Underfoot in Show Business 4.24 avg rating — 872 ratings — published 1962 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letter from New York: BBC Woman's Hour Broadcasts 4.25 avg rating — 789 ratings — published 1992 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Apple of My Eye 3.95 avg rating — 724 ratings — published 1977 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Helene Hanff Omnibus: Underfoot in Show Business; 84 Charing Cross Road; The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street; The Apple of My Eye; Q's Legacy 4.49 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 1993 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Queen of England: The Story of Elizabeth I 4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1969 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Butch Elects a Mayor by Helene Hanff, Judith Gwyn Brown (Illustrator) 3.70 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1969 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Movers and Shakers: Young Activists of the Sixties 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1982	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Helene Hanff (?)

“I do love secondhand books that open to the page some previous owner read oftenest. The day Hazlitt came he opened to "I hate to read new books," and I hollered "Comrade!" to whoever owned it before me.”
― Helene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road

278 likes

“I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long gone has called my attention to.”
― Helene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road

tags: book-lover, books

248 likes

“If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much.”
― Helene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road

tags: british, debt, england, kiss, please, writers

179 likes

See all Helene Hanff's quotes »

Polls

April 2025 New School Poll

1984 by George Orwell (1949) 328 pages

68 votes, 30.8%

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (1951) 186 pages

32 votes, 14.5%

Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (1943) 192 pages

29 votes, 13.1%

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (1970) 106 pages,

24 votes, 10.9%

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (1984) 333 pages.

22 votes, 10.0%

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (1969) 384 pages

21 votes, 9.5%

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (1951) 537 pages

13 votes, 5.9%

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener (1947) 347 pages

12 votes, 5.4%

221 total votes

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Helene Hanff’s Followers (709)

Helene Hanff

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