10 Famous Authors Who Show Up As Characters In Their Own Work

4. Orhan Pamuk - My Name Is Red

Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Turkish writer Orham Pamuk is best known for his novels My Name Is Red, Snow and The Museum Ff Innocence. His writing style has been compared to that of Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust and Vladimir Nabokov. In My Name Is Red, Pamuk and his older brother Shevket show up as minor characters, along with their real-life mother whose role is significantly more substantial. In the story, Orhan and Shevket are two clashing brothers set against the backdrop of a turbulent family life.

"Orhan lied to the master binder," Shevket said. "He left me there to do all the work."

Orhan is known for his interest in post-modern meta-fiction, so it seems natural that he would insert members of his actual family into his work. The book has since been wildly successful, with a translation existing in over 60 languages.