def normalize_author_name(author_name):
    """returns a normalized name suitable for comparing"""
    # ensure periods are followed by a space:
    normalized_name = author_name.replace('.', '. ').replace('  ', ' ')
    # remove hyphens (sometimes inconsistently applied):
    normalized_name = normalized_name.replace('-', '')
    # remove asterisks (sometimes included in document authors text):
    normalized_name = normalized_name.replace('*', '')
    # remove formatting characters occasionally observed:
    normalized_name = normalized_name.replace('†', '')
    # strip possible extra whitespace:
    normalized_name = normalized_name.strip()
    return normalized_name