Editing David Niven (section)

===Writing===
[[File:Gable Grant Hope Niven 1950s.jpg|thumb|right|[[Clark Gable]], [[Cary Grant]], [[Bob Hope]], and Niven laughing in the 1950s]]
Niven wrote four books. The first, ''Round the Rugged Rocks'', was a novel that appeared in 1951, when his film career was at its nadir, and was forgotten immediately. The plot was plainly autobiographical (although not recognised as such at the time of publication), involving a young soldier, John Hamilton, who leaves the [[British Army]], becomes a liquor salesman in New York, is involved in indoor horse racing, goes to Hollywood, becomes a deckhand on a fishing boat, and finally ends up as a highly successful film star.

In 1971, he published his autobiography, ''[[The Moon's a Balloon]]'', selling over five million copies. He followed this with ''Bring On the Empty Horses'' in 1975, a collection of entertaining reminiscences from the [[Golden Age of Hollywood]] in the 1930s and 1940s. As a [[raconteur]] rather than an accurate memoirist, Niven recounted some incidents from a first-person perspective that happened to other people, among them [[Cary Grant]].<ref name="OtherSide"/> This borrowing and embroidering of his personal history was also said to be the reason why he persistently refused to appear on ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/news/11202745.why-david-niven-and-the-amateurs-behind-jamaica-inn-will-always-be-on-separate-tables/|title=Why David Niven and the amateurs behind ''Jamaica Inn'' will always be on ''Separate Tables''|work=[[Borehamwood & Elstree Times|Borehamwood Times]]|access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref> Niven's penchant for exaggeration is particularly apparent when comparing his written descriptions of his early film appearances (especially ''Barbary Coast'' and ''A Feather in her Hat''), and his Oscar acceptance speech, to the filmed evidence. In all three examples, the reality differs from Niven's accounts as presented in ''The Moon's a Balloon'' and related in various chat show appearances.

In 1981 Niven published a second and much more successful novel, ''Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly'', which was set during and after the Second World War, and which drew on his experiences during the war and in Hollywood.