American Authors

Can The Great American Novel Exist?

Kevin Hayes | Posted 05.15.2012

Kevin Hayes

Can the phrase "Great American Novel" only be applied to realistic novels that attempt to capture the mainstream American experience? Or can it be applied to other novels that are more diverse in terms of either subject matter or literary approach?

6 Things I Learned From Charles Bukowski

James Altucher | Posted 12.09.2011

James Altucher

Charles Bukowski was disgusting, his actual real fiction is awful, he's been called a misogynist, overly simplistic, the worst narcissist, (and probab...

Chicago To Open First Museum Dedicated To American Authors?

chicagotribune.com | Sandra M. Jones, Tribune Reporter | Posted 08.28.2011

Malcolm O'Hagan, an Irish engineer with a love for great literature, is bringing his dream to Chicago. ...

Philip Roth Didn't Deserve Booker Prize

Anis Shivani | Posted 07.19.2011

Anis Shivani

"There is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world...not th...

PHOTOS: Authors And The Trees That Inspired Them

Richard Horan | Posted 07.15.2011

Richard Horan

On a family vacation from Wisconsin to Dauphin Island, Alabama, we stopped at Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL to take a tour. In the front parlor there was a photograph of Honest Abe hanging on the wall.

The Island Of Herman Melville, The State Of Cormac McCarthy: Literary Map Of America

Posted 06.22.2011

Would you rather live in the state of Black Elk or Maya Angelou instead of Montana or Arkansas? The island of Melville looks a little cold, so instead...

Why Do Americans Write Such Great Coming-Of-Age Novels?

guardian.co.uk | Posted 05.25.2011

Is this merely coincidence, or is there something else at work here? Do American writers absorb Bildungsroman aptitude alongside fluoridated water and...

Is Shirley Jackson One Of The Greatest American Writers?

Salon | Andrew O'Hehir | Posted 05.25.2011

The Shirley Jackson Awards for excellence in "literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic" were awarded over the weekend, and...

Is Lionel Shriver America's Best Living Writer?

The Millions | Kevin Frazier | Posted 05.25.2011

With her new novel, So Much for That, Lionel Shriver strengthens her already credible claim to the title of best living American writer. This won't s...