http://dir.salon.com/topics/literary_guide_to_the_world/?source=rss&aim=literary_guide_to_the_world en-us Copyright 2007 Salon.com. Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT By Cary Tennis Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2007/11/02/addicted_to_fanfiction/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2007/11/02/addicted_to_fanfiction/index.html?source=rss Every moment I'm alone, I'm secretly reading the stories, the forums, the recommendations. I can't stop! By Anderson Tepper Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/30/brazil/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/30/brazil/index.html?source=rss After Carnival, soccer and samba, go deeper into this South American nation via its seductive novels and gritty true-life stories. By Matthew Fishbane Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/16/colombia/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/16/colombia/index.html?source=rss There's more than magical realism in the literature of this beautiful and still very dangerous country. By Colum McCann Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/10/gypsy/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2007/01/10/gypsy/index.html?source=rss Despite their historical distrust of the written word, Europe's Gypsies have a growing -- and captivating -- literary tradition. By Matt Steinglass Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/30/netherlands/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/30/netherlands/index.html?source=rss Delve into Lowlands literature and discover there's much more to this prosperous nation than wooden clogs, tulips and -- of course -- weed. By Seth Kantner Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/13/alaska/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/13/alaska/index.html?source=rss Put aside stories of a freezing, exotic locale full of igloos and kooks in favor of these portraits of the hardscrabble -- and magical -- Northern state. By Ken Kalfus Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/06/russia/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/11/06/russia/index.html?source=rss Alienation, the struggle for a decent life, really bad weather -- the universal themes of this vast nation's literature make us all feel Russian at one point or another. By Jeff MacIntyre Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/30/vancouver/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/30/vancouver/index.html?source=rss This livable, futuristic, far West outpost of our continent has been a home for writers from Alice Munro to Douglas Coupland. By Laura Lippman Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/23/baltimore/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/23/baltimore/index.html?source=rss If you like "The Wire," delve into books by Robert Ward, John Waters and William Manchester to experience more avenues of Charm City. By Benjamin Kunkel Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/16/argentina/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/16/argentina/index.html?source=rss From Borges to Bruce Chatwin, the rich and moody literature of South America's most European nation reflects its homeland's squandered potential. By Anna Monardo Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/09/southern_italy/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/09/southern_italy/index.html?source=rss The grit -- and beauty -- of this land of Mafioso is captured in the mysteries of Leonardo Sciascia and the expat writings of Mary Taylor Simeti. By Rebecca Wells Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/02/louisiana/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/10/02/louisiana/index.html?source=rss John Kennedy Toole, Ernest Gaines and the recipes of Enola Prudhomme will instruct you in the sorrows and joys of the Bayou State. By Eric Weinberger Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/25/alps/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/25/alps/index.html?source=rss More than an Alpine playground, Europe's most beloved mountain range has provided the dramatic backdrop in novels by Hemingway, Greene and Salter. By Emma Pearse Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/18/australia/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/18/australia/index.html?source=rss Forget Paul Hogan and Foster's-drinking loudmouths. Bill Bryson and Peter Carey introduce you to real, fiercely proud Australians. By William T. Vollmann Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/11/norway/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/11/norway/index.html?source=rss The Eddas -- epic sagas that form the core of Norse religion -- are best read under the ash trees in this Land of the Midnight Sun. By Michelle Goldberg Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/04/turkey/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/09/04/turkey/index.html?source=rss This endlessly fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking puzzle of a country that's fraught with religious and political conflict is brilliantly captured in the novels of Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak. By James Card Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/31/korea/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/31/korea/index.html?source=rss The "black hole" of Asia and its estranged brother to the south are revealed in books from a political refugee, an American mountain man and a war veteran. By Kyoko Mori Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/28/japan/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/28/japan/index.html?source=rss From 17th century haikus to the work of Kazuo Ishiguro, writing from this Far East nation reveals an obsession with beauty and discipline. By Ann Marlowe Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/24/afghanistan/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/24/afghanistan/index.html?source=rss Westerners who came here in the '70s left magnificent travel writing that captured the rugged, captivating land before war tore it apart. By Ariel Dorfman Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/21/chile/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/21/chile/index.html?source=rss The crazy character of this wondrous land shines in the poems of Pablo Neruda, while its strife under Pinochet is captured best by José Donoso and Patricia Verdugo By Christine Smallwood Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/17/berlin/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/17/berlin/index.html?source=rss The past of this eternally youthful "city of the world" is captured in the work of journalist Joseph Roth, author John le Carré and psychiatrist and novelist Alfred Döblin. By Lorin Stein Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/14/washington_dc/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/14/washington_dc/index.html?source=rss Our famously divided capital has produced novels about white people in power and novels about everyone else. Explore the best of both worlds with Henry Adams and George Pelecanos. By David Bezmozgis Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/10/montreal/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/10/montreal/index.html?source=rss Allow Leonard Cohen and Mordecai Richler to show you Canada's most prized -- and sublimely permissive -- city. By Nell Freudenberger Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/07/china/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/07/china/index.html?source=rss To understand the last century of this vast Far Eastern country, look to the moving stories of Lu Xun, a celebrated memoir of the Cultural Revolution and an engaging, concise history. By Suzy Hansen Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/03/jersey_shore/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/literary_guide/2006/08/03/jersey_shore/index.html?source=rss Bruce Springsteen may provide the soundtrack to your boardwalk stroll, but great novels by Richard Ford and Frederick Reiken should keep you company on the beach.