Fiction

Lauren Conrad The unbearable lightness of Lauren Conrad

The "Hills" star puts reality TV behind her -- with a novel about a reality star who just wants to be a normal girl
  • What should I read next?

    Aleksandar Hemon's fictional alter ego drinks and writes his way through exile in these superb coming-of-age tales.
  • Must Read: "How to Sell"

    Diamonds are a boy's best friend in this crackling novel of scams, sex and druggy escapades in the jewel trade.
  • The unlimited dreams of J.G. Ballard

    His dark, perverse fiction is unforgettable. But the author of "Crash" and "Empire of the Sun" was also a visionary who mapped the collision of culture and technology, media and desire.
  • "The Song Is You"

    Love among the iPods: A divorced TV director is content to be left alone with his old songs -- until he meets a new singer.
  • Remembering J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009

    The visionary writer has passed away at age 78. This entry from "The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors" takes us on a tour of his best and bravest work.
  • The dirty girl

    Controversial "Wetlands" author Charlotte Roche talks about bodily functions, shaving pubic hair, and why there are so few euphemisms for female masturbation.
  • Should I change the names to protect the innocent?

    Some of my best stories are true. What are the ethics?
  • Bereft

    Getting a note of appreciation from John Updike could buoy you up for weeks. Now who's left to bless us?
  • Girlish, moody fiction? No thanks

    What readers really want is dastardly deeds by dark, despicable men, or saucy wenches with pert breasts displayed like fresh fruit on a platter.
  • All-American terrorist

    A '60s activist-turned-vigilante is tortured by a handsome interrogator in Glen Duncan's gripping new novel. So which one is the villain?
  • "Serena"

    A lumber baron, a ruthless sexpot and a one-handed henchman star in this wildly entertaining tale of passion, murder and deforestation set in Depression-era North Carolina.
  • Salon Book Awards 2008

    Our picks for the 10 most pleasurable fiction and nonfiction reading experiences of the year.
  • What were you thinking?

    Midwesterners usually go south to misbehave, not to the handicapped stall in a Minneapolis men's room at halftime.
  • "Winnie and Wolf"

    What if Hitler had a love child? A.N. Wilson's "Winnie and Wolf" is a chilling fictional tale of a clandestine affair.
  • "Thank You for All Things"

    A messed-up Midwestern family grapples with buried secrets in Sandra's Kring's gripping saga "Thank You for All Things."
  • Diagnosing Chuck Klosterman

    Wildly praised and pathologically reviled, the writer who built a career on pop-cultural essays explains why he has written a novel about small-town America.
  • Philip Roth's Jewish question

    In his affecting new book, Roth's young hero abandons his Jewish upbringing for life in small town Ohio.
  • Sex, power and Laura Bush

    "American Wife" author Curtis Sittenfeld on her first lady obsession, dirty bits with George W., and whether we're responsible for the behavior of our loved ones.
  • The slush pile gave me writer's block!

    Everything was fine until I started reading unsolicited manuscripts.
  • This is not my beautiful wife

    Meteorology meets conspiracy in Rivka Galchen's exquisite first novel about a man who mistakes his wife for an impostor.
  • The history boy

    The 9-year-old narrator of the heartbreaking "When We Were Romans" flees family chaos through literature.
  • How to read the James Wood way

    The fiercely talented critic takes us on an illuminating tour of fiction -- but there's a hole in his plot.
  • To breed or not to breed

    With its taproot in "Hamlet," this novel spins an engrossing tale of power struggles within a family of Wisconsin dog breeders.
  • Secrets and lives

    Sebastian Barry may be the most exhilarating prose stylist in Irish fiction. His new book weaves together strands from Ireland's past -- and his own.
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