About William Peter Blatty:
Best known for the 1971 bestseller, The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty was born January 7, 1928, in New York City. The fifth child of Lebanese immigrants, his parents separated when he was just a toddler. Blatty was raised by his deeply religious Catholic mother, who attempted to make a living peddling homemade quince jelly in the streets of Manhattan.
Blatty’s family lived at 28 different addresses during his childhood years. Due to nonpayment of rent, they rarely stayed in one place for more than a few months.
He obtained a scholarship to attend Brooklyn Preparatory school and graduated valedictorian in 1946. Another scholarship enabled him to attend Georgetown University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English. In order to continue his education, Blatty took a series of jobs, including selling vacuum cleaners door to door, driving a beer truck, and serving as an airline ticketing agent.
In 1954, after obtaining his master’s degree in English Literature, Blatty joined the Air Force. Following his time in the military, he joined the United States Information Agency and worked as an editor based in Beirut, Lebanon. It was during that time that his writing talent began to emerge.
Blatty’s writing career began with humor, and he published several comic novels. He was also a successful screenplay writer. In his later years, he became a film director and producer. The Exorcist was published in 1971, and a 40th Anniversary Edition was released in 2011.
William Peter Blatty received numerous awards for his literary works. He was married four times and had seven children. After living in Hollywood, Calif., and Aspen, Colo., for much of his adult life, he lived in Bethesda, Md., until his death from multiple myeloma in 2017. He was 89.
The bestseller that almost wasn’t . . .
Despite tireless marketing efforts from both the author and the publisher, book sales of The Exorcist were dismal. Harper & Row had spent a fortune, setting up a 26-city tour with 12-13 interviews per day. Still, nobody was buying Blatty’s book. He’d even applied to appear on the Dick Cavett Show, but was told Cavett didn’t like paranormal stories.
Hollywood had also rejected the story. Blatty said he could have papered his walls with the rejection slips received from every studio in town.
In a fate twist that Blatty has attributed to divine intervention, one of Cavett’s guests cancelled at the last minute. The show called Blatty’s publisher and asked if the author could come to the set immediately. For reasons unknown to Blatty, that episode’s first guest left early. The second guest, who arrived in an inebriated state, also didn’t stay long. That left a 45-minute programming hole, in which Blatty filled sharing with Cavett about his book.
That Cavett interview launched The Exorcist onto the New York Times bestseller list, where it spent 57 weeks, including 17 consecutive weeks at number one.
About The Exorcist:
These stone steps in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) were built in 1895. They were made famous in the movie The Exorcist, and are now recognized as a D.C. Landmark.
Of his bestselling horror novel, Blatty once said, “I have never read horror, nor do I consider The Exorcist to be such, but rather as a suspenseful supernatural detective story, or paranormal police procedural.”
Set in Washington D.C., near Georgetown University, the book details the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl, Regan MacNeil, daughter of a famous actress, and the two priests who attempt to exorcise the demon.
From Amazon’s description of the 40th Anniversary Edition (published in 2011):
Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist still has the extraordinary ability to disturb readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” Published here in this beautiful fortieth anniversary edition, it remains an unforgettable reading experience and will continue to shock and frighten a new generation of readers.
How did Blatty get the idea for his book, The Exorcist?
Blatty has stated in interviews that, while he was a student at Georgetown University, he heard about an alleged demonic possession and exorcism that took place in 1949. The Washington Post had published stories about this incident. Blatty later did research on exorcism procedures and developed his own characters and storyline.
Aspects of his character, Father Merrin, was based upon a British archaeologist whom Blatty had met while in Beruit.
Opening Line of The Exorcist:
Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men’s eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror at all.
Quotes by William Peter Blatty:
- I always believe there is a divine hand everywhere.
- Procrastination is what we often call “resistance.”
- [Jealousy] is the feeling you get when someone you absolutely detest is having a wonderful time without you.