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/lit/ - Literature

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1738757 No.1738757 [Reply] [Original]

Hello /lit/

What contemporary US authors would you recommend to somebody who is pretty well-read in 20th-century American lit but somewhat out of touch with the current US book market?

Some recent authors I've enjoyed were Jonathan Franzen, Mark Danielewski, Karen Russell, Anthony Doerr, Jonathan Safran Foer...

Looking forward to your advice. Thanks!

>> No.1738759

William Kennedy

>> No.1738763
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1738763

Wow, first Doerr reader I've seen on here.

Have you read Rick Moody yet? Try Purple America. Additionally you might enjoy Mary Gaitskill and Joseph O'Neill. These aren't super current but I'm confident you'll like at least one of them.

>> No.1738771

>>1738763
Thanks, 3rd! I've only heard of Gaitskill out of the three.

As for Doerr, I've only read The Shell Collector. Would you recommend his other books?

>> No.1738788

Oooh, have you read any Michael Chabon? Wonderboys, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

>> No.1738791

If you're into Danielewski and by corollary, books of epic length, Foster Wallace and DeLillo (Underworld particularly) might be obvious but good options, although you say you're 'pretty well-read in 20th century American lit,' so I'm guessing you're already pretty familiar with them.

If you're looking for something really, really new, try Tao Lin. His stuff is kinda controversial and I haven't personally read enough of it to vouch for it fully but the snippets I've read of his novel, Richard Yates, seemed pretty cutting edge.

>> No.1738795
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1738795

Of your list, I've only read Everything is Illuminated by JSF, which I very much enjoyed.

I have a standard list of modern recs that I've come across higgldy-piggldy off the new tables of bookstores and libraries when I was browsing (not too often.) From what I can tell, nobody on /lit/ has ever taken me up on them, nor read them of their own accord, but here goes:

Anthony Swofford: Jarhead (actually read based on a review--pretty much the only book I've ever done that with, and it was fucking awesome)
Paul Beatty: The White Boy Shuffle (follow-up Tuff was kinda meh comparatively)
Junot Diaz: Drown (short stories. follow up novel Oscar Wao was good, but not as good)
Ron Currie Jr: God Is Dead (a novel told in a series of short story-esqe vignettes. this has nothing to do with Dawkins or atheism. really loved this book and have re-read it many times)
James Frey: A Million Little Pieces (what can I tell you, i read them before and the writing worked on me, but maybe this taints my other recomendations. ah well.)

did not care for Chabon (tried K&C, it was aight, i guess.) That's about all the most modern guys I've read, that I can recall anyhow. Well, Sedaris is a hoot, but that's not really what you were asking after, perhaps.

>> No.1738796

>>1738791
Oh, fuck yeah, forgot about DeLillo (oh, and they're making a movie out of Cosmopolis? What the fuck?).

Underworld, Lybra, End Zone, White Noise, Mao II.

>> No.1738798
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1738798

>>1738771
No problem, unfortunately I've only read some of the stories in The Shell Collector as well so I can't comment.

As long as we have a contemporary fiction thread has anyone read this? It's getting Danielewski comparisons but it seems to be a different breed from synopsis. I haven't been out to skim over a physical copy but I'm intrigued.

>>1738791
Some people have radically different opinions but I personally can't read Lin. I like his ideas and he's a great "conceptual" writer but the stories themselves are terrors to read. The difference between Lin and Wallace writing about ennui is one of them has the aspirations to do so with good prose, with clever stylistic bits and imaginative allegory that help clarify or pinpoint the construction of boredom itself. The other just writes situations they've been bored in.

>> No.1738799

Paul Auster is good at times.

>> No.1738801

>>1738788
>>1738791
>>1738795
>>1738796

Thanks so much, everybody! I'll be sure to check out all the authors.

I'm familiar with DeLillo but for some reason, I haven't read DFW yet, even though I've been planning to do so for ages. Same goes for Chabon, actually (I even purchased The Mysteries of Pittsburgh recently, haven't had a chance to read it yet).

And actually, I like Sedaris a lot :)

>> No.1738816

>>1738801
you're welcome, OP. I'm >>1738795

do me a favor and let /lit/ know if you like any of my recs, I'm tired of being the only one, OK? Or shit, let 'em know if you dislike, as long as they get discussed more, I'm good.

>> No.1738835

ITT we talks about people who write books instead of literature.

>> No.1738837

>>1738816
I will. Probably not anytime soon, but once I read any of them, I will. Thanks again!

>> No.1738846

>>1738757
No one is ever "well-read", it's impossible.

>> No.1738862
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1738862

>>1738835
awww, go soak your head, willya!

>> No.1738920

>>1738835
The reason why Blake Butler is compared to Danielewski is because there are ergodic elements in There is no year, like House of Leaves. Perhaps more reason to check it out, if you enjoyed Danielewski

And in defense of Tao Lin, the style is deliberately spartan, probably to mimic language usage on the internet. I recommended him only because OP was looking for 'current' US literature