[.ca] Salon Com Readers Guide To Contemporary Authors (ISBN 014028088X)

From Amazon.com:
Selling itself as a handbook for readers who consume books "for pleasure," The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors hopes to fill a perceived gap on the reference shelf. Its editor, Laura Miller, declares in the preface: "We didn't imagine an audience of researchers or scholars or critics or prize committees or members of the publishing industry, even if some of those people still do occasionally read a book with the hopes of enjoying it." The chief irony of this claim is that this Baedeker originated at Salon.com--a den of insiders, merciless critics, and juicy gossip. And there's plenty here that the "pure" reader wouldn't need to know: the dirt on big advances, whose career went into a tailspin, what the reviewers said. If Miller's aim was to escape the careerists of the publishing world, she has nevertheless assembled a book they'll eat like catnip. And a highly original book it is, too. Like Salon.com itself, it collapses the distance between highbrow and lowbrow. Stephen King and Mario Puzo coexist with Lydia Davis and Donald Antrim; as a result, the game quickly becomes one of who is not included and who is. To Miller's credit, the answers continually surprise (though several omissions are regrettable). Loosely limiting authors to those who have some "contemporary" presence, entries attempt to place these writers in their time, to argue for their importance and influence. The entries themselves often suffer from bad writing; here's a metaphor that should be blocked: "If you could grab hold of one of O'Brien's images and wrestle it up from the page, you'd find long roots sunk deep into the earth. There's blood coursing through her exquisite prose, balancing its seeming delicacy with solidity and weight." Or, my favorite moment of exasperating silliness: "Are you sure you hate Bret Easton Ellis as much as you hate yourself?" A more limited pool of reviewers would have diminished a feeling of unevenness that undermines the book's authoritative posture. The best writing comes from Miller herself, who has emerged as the Pauline Kael of the book scene. Her prose is effortlessly provocative. Often an entry about a writer's work will be followed by an essay by that author. These added essays and digressions are wonderfully varied and idiosyncratic: David Gates on "Breaking Up with the Beats," Dorothy Allison on why "Every Novel Is a Lesbian Novel," and though Calvin Trillin isn't assessed, he is allowed to write about "Books That Made Me Laugh." Combined with the guide's primary information, these additions allow the reader a glimpse into the chatter of famous authors--an imaginary tea party free of mercenaries and showoffs, of course, where pure-hearted readers hold forth about the joy of books and everybody has a turn. --Ellen Williams

Salon.com Knows its Literature:
The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors is one of the best books on contemporary literature I've ever read. With the notable exclusions of writers John Nichols, David James Duncan and Arundahati Roy, the book is a comprehensive (though it claims not to be) and witty guide to all books not yet considered "classic" yet well on their way. I am a college writing and literature instructor, so I first browsed the volume as an interested teacher (always looking for ways to get students to like reading), but ended up unable to put it down because I so loved its insight and humor about all the writers I've loved or hated over the years. I was delighted at the validation I received for not really liking trendy writers such as A.S. Byatt, Edwidge Danticat or Brett Easton Ellis, and thrilled that authors Jim Harrison and Salman Rushdie were finally given the fair criticism they deserve, not based on scandal or hype or Brad Pitt. In fact, I found Salon's criticisms generally accurate with regard to books I've read already. Never nasty, the critics sum up the influence the writer has had and honestly discuss whether or not the influence is justified. I also learned much about the writing of authors I have always meant to check out and I learned about writers I've never heard of but now want to read desperately. I wish this book had been published years ago. I am definitely going to recommend it to all of my reading friends and my students and I eagerly await the second edition (for surely there must be a second edition now that Jonathan Franzen has written The Corrections?) Thanks, Salon.com, for filling a void so humorously and honestly.

Informative and delightful to read:
Despite its 455 pages, this book is a fairly quick read. It is a book about contemporary literature, although not at all boring as book reviews sometimes tend to be. Reading this book is fun, in part, I think, because it is written for readers, not for other critics. The reviewers do not err on the safe side always, which make it so much more interesting. The book is ordered alphabetically, and contains information not only about the books, but also some information about the authors. In order to be user-friendly, the "best" book by each author is marked by an asterisk. I admire this because naturally, everyone will not agree which is the best book, but as the subtitle says: this is "an opinionated, irreverant look at the most fascinating writers of our time". This is just one of the cool features of the book: another one is a section after each author called "see also", where the reader gets recommendations according to the system if you like this author, you might want to try these. There are a few general essays on such topics as science fiction, often written by one of the included authors. I would have liked more of those. There are also lists of book suggestions with interesting titles (sometimes more interesting than the recommended books sound), and those can be browsed like a good magazine. I would have liked more of those, too. This is not a book which will expand your knowledge of literary theories, but people who have studied literature are likely to enjoy this book anyway. I am one of those:) It does not assume that the reader has studied literature and knows lots of terms, concept and are aware of the current discussions; instead, this is a tribute to literature as phenomenon. And a phenomenon that can and sometimes should be experienced intuitively.

Good Medicine, and Great Sex!:
David Ford has done an excellent job on this book. It tells an interesting story. It is provacative and enlightening. This is the second book I have read from this outstanding author.

Fun and Opinionated:
One of the most enjoyable reference works I know of. Some of its opinions are quite strongly stated -- "Without Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal, American literature in the second half of the twentieth century would not exist; without everyone else in this book it would" -- but, for me, this was a plus. And unlike at least one other reviewer, I didn't find the book "politically correct" or anti-straightwhitemale. (Although its longest -- and probably worst -- piece is titled "Every Novel Is a Lesbian Novel.")

Be Prepared to be Astonished:
Laura Miller is one of the most witty and exciting writer's around (see Miller's weekly column(s) in the NY Times and Salon.com), with a gift for the written word that will leave you in awe. Here Miller edits and indeed contributes, along with an impressive array of critics and reviewers, to this reader's guide. This opinionated book will "inform, captivate, delight, and stir debate". Most of all it is fascinating and will leave you browsing for hours on end, and will encourage heated discussion among your friends. Writer's like Salman Rushdie, Raymond Carver, Carl Hiaasen, Kazuo Ishiguro, John Irving, PD James, Ian McEwan, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, Peter Carey, Jonathan Franzen, Bret Easton Ellis, Don DeLillo, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, Michael Chabon, JM Coetzee, Ken Kesey, Charles Bukowski, Saul Bellow, Pat Barker, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Amy Tan among many others are all in here. The joy of this book is that an essay is given about the author and his or her works and in addition, there is also a recommended reading list if you want to pursue any other work, as well as essays on literary topics that can be provocative but fun nonetheless. I recommend this if you aren't sure what to read next, or have an interest in all things literary. It's a big book of about 450 pages and it's well worth the price. Be prepared to be astonished at the elegance of the writing here.