Salon Directory › f › Fiction (362 stories)

Fiction

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War without end
Best known for his tales of losers, thieves and addicts, Denis Johnson takes on the Vietnam War in his daring new novel, "Tree of Smoke."
By Laura Miller Sep 17, 2007
"Engleby"
The narrator of Sebastian Faulks' enthralling new novel is a witty, unreliable oddball -- but is he a murderer?
By Laura Miller Sep 7, 2007
Life beyond the lens
New novels frame two of photography's most compelling legends, Edward Curtis and Edward Steichen.
By Sarah Karnasiewicz Aug 2, 2007
"The Headmaster Ritual"
Move over, "Prep" and "Harry Potter" -- Taylor Antrim has written the great American (or is that Korean-American?) boarding school novel.
By Ed Park Aug 1, 2007
Mystery in black and white
Stephen L. Carter helped put African-American mysteries on the map with his 2002 debut novel. But his latest thriller, "New England White," seems lost.
By Alexis Soloski Jul 19, 2007
"On Chesil Beach"
Two virgins face down fear and disgust on their wedding night in Ian McEwan's slender new novel.
By Ed Park Jun 5, 2007
Potterpalooza
For the Quidditch players, wizard rockers and would-be witches who gathered at a New Orleans Harry Potter convention, this is the dawning of their summer of love -- and loss.
By Rebecca Traister Jun 1, 2007
"After Dark"
In Haruki Murakami's cinematic new novel, night owls wander the streets of Tokyo, unaware of the web of coincidences that connects them.
By Laura Miller May 30, 2007
The unbearable rightness of fiction
In his forceful new book, Milan Kundera argues that we need the novel to understand the "ineluctable defeat called life."
By Gary Kamiya Mar 6, 2007
I don't feel like writing. Does that mean I'm not a writer?
Every time I start to work on my second novel, an enormous laziness descends upon me.
By Cary Tennis Feb 26, 2007
"Travels in the Scriptorium"
When Paul Auster is at his best he's like a brilliant magician. When he's not -- as with his latest -- it's as if he's sawing away without a woman in the box.
By Allen Barra Feb 7, 2007
"Sacred Games"
Vikram Chandra's exquisite cops and robbers tale breaks the mold of the contemporary Indian novel, bringing Mumbai -- in all its chaos -- gloriously to life.
By Laura Miller Feb 5, 2007
Destination: Brazil
After Carnival, soccer and samba, go deeper into this South American nation via its seductive novels and gritty true-life stories.
By Anderson Tepper Jan 30, 2007
"The End of Mr. Y"
Scarlett Thomas' novel dabbles in Derrida and Darwin, but her story of a screwed-up grad student obsessed with a cursed book never gets bogged down.
By Laura Miller Jan 18, 2007
Best fiction of 2006
This year, stories from five extraordinary writers about Africa, 9/11's aftermath and the Civil War captivated us the most.
By Laura Miller and Hillary Frey Dec 13, 2006
The fall of the house of Pynchon
Slogging through the science and history, sex and paranoia that crowd Thomas Pynchon's cartoonish new novel, it's obvious his disciples now write better Big Idea novels than he does.
By Laura Miller Nov 21, 2006
"The Uses of Enchantment"
In her multifold new novel, Heidi Julavits sends up self-help and female victimhood through the story of a girl who may have faked her own kidnapping.
By Marisa Meltzer Oct 17, 2006
"One Good Turn"
A lifesaving good deed by a meek crime novelist sets off a series of unpredictable events in Kate Atkinson's shrewd and witty new novel.
By Laura Miller Oct 4, 2006
"The Meaning of Night"
A nasty, Philip Marlowe-esque antihero obsessed with destroying his nemesis makes Michael Cox's historical novel a thrill.
By Laura Miller Sep 26, 2006
"The Emperor's Children"
With her dazzling new novel about young literary elite in New York, Claire Messud secures her star status.
By Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow Sep 12, 2006
"Icelander"
This wonderful new novel from McSweeney's is a twisty murder mystery with rich overtones of Nabokov, Norse mythology and pomo fiction.
By Laura Miller Aug 11, 2006
"Talk Talk"
Only T.C. Boyle could pull off this literary thriller about a deaf woman determined to confront the man who stole her identity.
By Laura Miller Jul 21, 2006
Must I always be haunted by the loss of my one true love?
She was everything I'd ever dreamed of. Then there was the screech of tires on a dark street...
By Cary Tennis Jun 23, 2006
"Whiteman"
This seductive debut from a former Peace Corps worker transcends the "earnest young man" novel and announces the arrival of a master storyteller.
By Laura Miller May 16, 2006
"Theft"
A painter in dire straits, his simple brother and a ravishing femme fatale light up prizewinning author Peter Carey's masterly new art-world mystery.
By Laura Miller May 10, 2006
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Salon Directory › f › Fiction (362 stories)

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