American novelist Amy Tan, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, has focused
her writing on the cultural and generational differences among Asian-American women. Her best
known novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships between Chinese women ...
Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11,
1922. Vonneguts literature is well-known for its satirical approach to twentieth century
concerns in regards to new technology and the impact of modern war. The satirist ha...
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec,
and Toronto, Canada. She is best known as the author of editions such as The Handmaids Tale
(1985) and The Edible Woman (1969). Each work addresses popular contemporary iss...
Controversial writer Norman Mailer used his personal experiences to
invigorate the nonfiction novel. Born in Long Branch, New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, New
York, Mailer received his S.B. in engineering from Harvard in 1943, and was drafted for W...
Author Pat Conroy, born October 26, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, was the
oldest of seven children. Since his father was a figure in the military, Conroy moved frequently
and eventually graduated from the Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, South Car...
American novelist Richard Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi, though he
denies his status as a southern writer. Ford has written five novels, his best known being The
Sportswriter (1986), a first-person account in the life of novelist-turned-sport...
Novelist Tony Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, where he was
raised amongst the Pottawatomie and Seminole Indians. Hillerman attended Oklahoma State
University, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of New Mexico. He is known fo...
E.L. Doctorow (1931- ), an American novelist born in New York City, is
known for his works of historical fiction. Doctorow's work, highly regarded and controversial,
is distinguished by deep philosophical inquiry, a subtle and varied prose style, an...
Isabel Allende (1942- ), niece of former Chilean president Salvador
Allende, is one of todays most prominent Chilean writers. She has lived many years in
California, having lived abroad ever since the 1973 coup that deposed her uncle. Her fictio...
John Irving (1942- ) an author born in Exeter, New Hampshire, first
received major recognition for his fourth novel, The World According to Garp (1978). Nominated
for a National Book Award, this novel describes the career of a novelist and typifies ...
Joseph Heller (1923-1999) was a surreal novelist whose 1961 classic
Catch-22 (1961) remains a seminal, antiwar novel. The term catch-22, coined in this novel, has
become a part of the American vernacular, now used to refer to any illogical or pa...