Fiction

Off the Shelf and on to the Big Screen!

Regina Brooks | Posted 11.06.2009 | Books


Regina Brooks

Hollywood continues to bring out the movies based on popular YA books, because the guarantee of an audience is just too good to pass up.

Transcend and Include: Fictionaut and the Future of the Literary Magazine

Jurgen Fauth | Posted 11.05.2009 | Books


Jurgen Fauth

It may be more productive to consider the changes roiling the publishing industry evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

The Help: Kathryn Stockett's Controversial Hit

The Huffington Post | Jessie Kunhardt | Posted 11.05.2009 | Books


First-time author Kathryn Stockett's recent book, The Help, has risen quickly through the bestseller lists despite Stockett being previously unknown a...

This Writer's Life: Why Write Memoir When Fiction is So Much More Respectable?

Rebecca Walker | Posted 11.04.2009 | Books


Rebecca Walker

I love the form and feel it is mine the way others feel poetry or the short story is theirs, but memoir is still seen as the first cousin of the tabloid, is it not?

Why I Don't Want to Be the Next Amy Tan

Celeste Ng | Posted 11.02.2009 | Books


Celeste Ng

Let's focus on the writing itself: the characters, the language, the narrative style. Because if a review compared me to Amy Tan on those measures, rather than on just our shared culture, I'd be proud.

Is 'The Help' More Than A Surprise Bestseller? Is It A New 'To Kill A Mockingbird'?

Jesse Kornbluth | Posted 10.26.2009 | Books


Jesse Kornbluth

I first heard about The Help soon after it was published in February. But it's 444 pages. I put it off. Very quickly, it became the #3 fiction bestseller.

Storytelling Lessons From the Boy in the Balloon

Celeste Ng | Posted 10.21.2009 | Books


Celeste Ng

I'm not sure what life-lessons we're supposed to learn from this whole crazy mess, but the episode of the boy in the balloon tells us a lot about what we want in stories, and how to tell a good one.

The Last Poet To Win The Nobel Prize

John Lundberg | Posted 10.16.2009 | Living


John Lundberg

I've been trying to track down English translations of poems by Herta Muller, the newest Nobel Laureate in Literature, but they are awfully hard to come by (if they even exist).

National Book Awards: What Do You Think? (PHOTOS, POLL)

The Huffington Post | Jessie Kunhardt | Posted 10.16.2009 | Books


The National Book Foundation rolled out the nominations for the 2009 National Book Award on Wednesday, and the winners will be announced November 18. ...

Philip Roth's The Humbling Is, At 140 Pages, His Best Book In Years

Jesse Kornbluth | Posted 10.08.2009 | Books


Jesse Kornbluth

Roth is 76 now. He's outlived all of his rivals. He's our most prominent novelist. And over 30 books, he's learned how to disturb us -- and keep us reading.

Why Anyone Can Publish On Fictionaut

Jurgen Fauth | Posted 10.08.2009 | Books


Jurgen Fauth

Fictionaut offers all the tools of a social network, but the real focus is on the actual writing: any member can post fiction and poetry to the site.

I Want To Date Your Family

Caprice Crane | Posted 09.29.2009 | Comedy


Caprice Crane

I'm not looking for "tall dark and handsome." My package comes with a family -- complete with parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents -- maybe even throw in a dog for good measure.

Making It Up

James Grady | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics


James Grady

Political fiction works when it makes its consumers feel like they are not alone out in the dark heart of the murderous maniacal mob -- when it makes you feel like you can do something.

Destroying the Pope in Fiction

Carol Hoenig | Posted 10.22.2009 | Media


Carol Hoenig

I knew upon cracking open this novel, The Holy Bullet wasn't going to offer any proof about how Pope John Paul I actually died; what I didn't expect was that a work of fiction would make me apathetic to his demise.

Sri-Lankan American Writes Disobedient Girl Reflecting Life Down To Its Smallest Details

Naazish YarKhan | Posted 10.20.2009 | Books


Naazish YarKhan

Freeman said aspiring writers need to first, put a check mark next to "have burning desire to write." Not "burning desire to be a writer" but to write!"

Friday Talking Points [90] -- Obama To Switch Parties

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Ted Kennedy is putting both his legacy and his sense of entitlement to his office before the interests of his constituents.

Age, Writing and Workshops

Marcia DeSanctis | Posted 08.30.2009 | Living


Marcia DeSanctis

Any idea that I was still a young woman was temporarily dispelled the first few days of the annual Tin House Writers Conference at Reed College in Portland Oregon.

Please, Dear Novelists - Get Real

Johann Hari | Posted 08.24.2009 | Media


Johann Hari

The Slumdog Kill-ionaire is back, and he is reminding us how exhilarating fiction can be when novelists finally leave their seminar rooms and dive into the real world.

Why I Love Self-Help Books (Even Though They Don't Work)

Christina Patterson | Posted 08.18.2009 | Living


Christina Patterson

Don't you just love those exclamation marks? Well, maybe you don't, but I do. I love the perkiness. I love the confidence. I love the lack of ambiguity.

Curry is Thicker Than Water Says Canadian-Indian Author, Jasmine D'Costa

Naazish YarKhan | Posted 08.12.2009 | Living


Naazish YarKhan

A book of short stories allows for variety, completion in short bursts of creativity and also captures thoughts between times of writing a novel.

The Shelf Talker: Ramen Noodles, Harold Bloom, and Poisonous Plants.

Kevin Smokler | Posted 07.04.2009 | Media


Kevin Smokler

Home Safe, is by Helen Ames who is recently widowed and having a tough time with her daughter, her missing retirement money and herself. It doesn't scream originality to us.

The Eroticization of Equality and Social Justice

Hillary Rettig | Posted 06.11.2009 | Politics


Hillary Rettig

What do conservatives -- and repressive regimes and ideologies the world over -- have against romance, love and sex? Why do they need to control them so much?

Moonshadows: Part 2

Grant Whitney Harvey | Posted 06.06.2009 | Living


Grant Whitney Harvey

All day he had been readying himself for an encounter with her. But now, in the suddenness of it all, every bit of preparation was out the window.

Moonshadows: Part 1

Grant Whitney Harvey | Posted 05.30.2009 | Living


Grant Whitney Harvey

I Never in his twenty three years of life had Billy Gladsten made so much money. It afforded him a roomy one-bedroom apartment in Westwood, of all p...

Can Movies Save the Day?

Dan Glickman | Posted 05.22.2009 | Entertainment


Dan Glickman

I'm proud of the starring role that movies play bringing joy and inspiration to people worldwide. The real-world role we play at the heart of our modern, creative economy is often overlooked.