The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors

by Laura Miller (Editor), Adam Begley

Since it began in 1995, Salon.com has been showered with awards and praise. Now, its 150,000 devoted readers can devour The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors -- an all-original, A-to-Z guide to 225 of the most fascinating writers of our time, penned by an international cast of talented young critics and reviewers. Here are profiles, reviews, and bibliographies of the authors that matter most now -- from Margaret Atwood to Tobias Wolff, Paul Auster to Alice Walker. Also included are essays and recommended reading lists by some of the authors themselves, such as Dorothy Allison on the books that shaped her, A. S. Byatt on her five favorite historical novels, Rick Moody on postmodern fiction, Robert Stone on the greatest war novels, and Ian McEwan on the best fiction about work.Peppered throughout with marvelously witty illustrations, The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors will be a must-have for anyone who is looking for cocktail party conversation starters, a good read, or advice on what to read next.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Reference, Literary Criticism, Criticism, Essays, Literary Fiction

455 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

Laura Miller is a journalist and critic. She is currently books and culture columnist at Slate.com. She was a cofounder of Salon.com, where she worked for 20 years, and is the editor of The Salon.com Readers Guide to Contemporary Authors. A regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review, her work has also appeared in The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, Time, and other publications. She lives in New York. Her new book is The Magician's Book:A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-rated to three stars - I read this one pre-Goodreads and we don't need this now, because, come on, you know it, I know it, the time is right, the world is waiting for THE GOODREADS.COM GUIDE TO EVERY SINGLE BOOK EVER

we could do a whole series

THE GOODREADS.COM GUIDE TO MAKING FUN OF TWILIGHT

THE GOODREADS.COM GUIDE TO INSULTING THE CLASSICS

THE BEST OF GOODREADS CELEBRITY DEATH MATCHES

THE GOODREADS.COM GUIDE TO INFINITE JEST

THE BEST OF GOODREADS AUTHOR/READER CAR-CRASHES

100 GREATEST GOODREADS SLANGING MATCHES

that's just the start

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still essential, fifteen years after publication. Maybe the only book I've read to the point where the binding split in half in my hands. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of lazy and mediocre writing in here, and a number of extraordinary writers are neglected. But when it comes to great commentary and recommendations for future reading, this book is a goddamn diamond-studded treasure trove: Michael Silverblatt on John Hawkes, Brian Bouldrey on Kathy Acker, Christopher Sorrentino on William Gaddis, Gary Kamiya on Denis Johnson, Laura Miller on Stephen Wright (and others), Jonathan Lethem on Kazuo Ishiguro (and others), David Foster Wallace's top five neglected American classics, A.S. Byatt's favorite historical fiction, David Bowman on noir novels, John Clute on literary science fiction . . . I could go on. There's a lifetime of reading to be found here.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Volume. I Picked up so many reccomendations from it, and I don't have any recolections of it steering me wrong. Made me aware of so many authors (steve erickson (Arc'D X comes to mind) I hadn't heard of but learned to love. This really needs to be updated. (hint hint Salon.com) I could also see other volumes like a guide to Fantasy, or Mystery.

[Borden · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it weren't for the mean article about Joan Didion in this collection of essays, I never would have discovered my favorite author. All of the complaints the author had about Didion were virtues in my eyes. Thanks Salon.com!

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I can flip through for hours, learning pointless facts about authors I've never really heard of. I like it even more because it gives you the "best" book by a specific author so you don't have to guess where to start.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for exposing yourself to new (or atleast new-to-you) authors.

[Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered many new authors through this guide. Opinionated, funny and informative. I wish there would have been updated editions.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book so many times at the Borders by my house. I'd read DFW's list of books to read every time. Such a good pre-massive internet book.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great precis of all the contemporary writers on the scene. I was pleased to note that I knew most of them, and that those I hadn't read (such as Updike) I hadn't read because I deliberately chose not to. It's amazing -- and a little daunting -- how much talent there is out there. I added books to my to-read list and noted how in the few years since this was published, existing authors had written top books -- Atonement, Empire Falls, for instance -- and other writers had surged into being: Kate Atkinson, Wally Lamb, Jennifer Haigh, Catherine O'Flynn. Marcus Zuzak (sp.)I wish they would do an update every ten years!

[Pewterbreath · Rating 5 out of 5]

About 10 years ago I picked up this book with the express intent of knowing who was who in contemporary literature. This book really did its job very well, pointing out who was known, who was respected, who was not respected but popular, and the best works of each writer. Now, of course any choice in this book is open to debate, and I'm certain they left a huge amount of writers out, but I'm really glad I had this book. It still pull it out now and then even though it's out of date. A pity that Salon does not have an updated version.

[Leah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can laugh if you like, but back when I didn't know what contemporary fiction to read, this book helped me find some good stuff. I still have my copy, though I haven't looked at it since I began making money and accumulating maddening quantities of books. Still, it's there for when I need it, books I want to read conveniently highlighted/flagged.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying to expand my horizons, book-wise. I love a fluffy mystery but occasionally I like something a little deeper. This book is about 10 years old, so the newest authors are not included, but it covers 20th century American and Brit authors pretty well. It's a good book if you want to find out what an author is about before trying to read one of their books.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a terrific guide to contemporary authors. I found an eclectic mix of my favorite authors in this guide and was introduced to many more. The reviews and opinions are certain to spark debates, but that's half the fun. Without a doubt, if you're looking for new books to read, you'll end up with a long reading list after browsing this guide.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful and less dated than you'd think. Many capsule reviews written by authors who are themselves now at the summit (Franzen, Foster Wallace, Eugenides, Lethem). Especially precious to me for Laura Miller's demolition of Alice Walker, which I quote to people all the time.

[robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Addictive. Of course the first book i read as a result of this book -- Sula -- turned out to be far worse than advertised, but this book is like crack for listmakers.

[Brentabousko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found some cool authors from this.

[Left Coast Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice reference book for the literature lover. Maybe 250 authors, most of whom were still alive and working in 2008 when this book came out, are profiled by twenty or thirty different reviewers. Major authors get three or four full pages; most get a half or full page, describing the circumstances of their lives and providing critical analysis of their work. (It's kind of incredible how many "major authors" back in 2008 were still men; the publishing landscape has certainly changed, now that the public gets to weigh in on what they want.)

For people like me, who like to know what's going on in the literary world without necessarily having to invest the time in actually reading stuff, this is a godsend. I am unlikely to read either Arundhati Roy or Dale Peck, for instance, but if their names come up in conversation, I have some idea who they are and what they have done.

In a sense, GR is the successor to this book, but better -- more inclusive of a much larger range of authors, and offering a much wider range of opinion on any specific work.

[Tavia · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the "good old days" of Salon.com

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most inveterate readers (especially readers trained as librarians), I collect lists of books and authors and I’m a fanatical reader of book reviews. For that reason, I collect recommendary volumes intended for reading groups and book clubs. The Salon web site (Miller was one of its founders) is opinionated and juicy, always worth browsing, and this fat volume maintains that course. Coverage is limited, more or less, to post-1960 authors writing in English, mostly “literary,” but also including including writers like John Grisham, Stephen King, and Amy Tan. All their works are listed, the more important ones are discussed in some depth (by more than eighty reviewers), and there’s a useful “See also” list at the end of each essay. And there are a number of sidebar book lists by the writers themselves. And an excellent introductory essay by Miller on the recent course of English-language literature. My copy is already filled with marginal notes and checkmarks.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

is this on your local remainer table? well pick it up! these are very good blurbs, concise and effective about contemporary writers along w/recommendations.

[KW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and well-organized. My personal "to-read" list has tripled.

[Notdorothy]

The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors by Laura Miller (2000)

[✨ Anna ✨ | ReadAllNight]

I'm not sure where I picked up this used copy.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tips and ideas on contemporary writers. It's good, though already outdated.