We all know the the paradigm of the tortured modern artist and his (occasionally her) self-destructive habits. But not all artful quirks (like Honoré de Balzac’s caffeine addiction, turned into marketing at right) lead to early retirement, as evidenced by Neatorama’s listicle of 4 Writers and Their Strange Obsessions. And though it might not qualify as an obsession, we’re surprised to see no mention of the fact that for years Samuel Beckett gave young André René a ride to school because he was too large for the school bus. René, you may or may not know, went on to become André The Giant. “André the Giant and Samuel Beckett in a car…” That sounds like the opening line of a great joke.

Only mildly related but extremely cool: Samuel Beckett Interview with John Lennon