http://contemporarylit.about.com/ Get the latest headlines from the About.com http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hh http://www.about.com/ 118 20 en-us 2012-02-16T06:54:09Z Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:54:09 +0000 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/22/books-to-movies-the-oscars-are-here-the-oscars-are-here.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/extremelyLoud.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/c/4/extremelyLoud.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>The Academy Awards are this coming Sunday, and a few of the films up for the Best Picture honor just happen to be adaptations from books. Oh, and here they are now:</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/22/books-to-movies-the-oscars-are-here-the-oscars-are-here.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/22/books-to-movies-the-oscars-are-here-the-oscars-are-here.htm Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:43:46 +0000 2012-02-22T11:43:46Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/16/the-map-and-the-territory-by-michel-houllebecq.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Map-And-The-Territory-Houllebecq.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/j/M/map-and-territory-houellebecq.JPG" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>In Michel Houellebecq's fifth novel, <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Map-And-The-Territory-Houllebecq.htm"><em>The Map and the Territory</em></a>, the main character, an artist, is emerging from a ten year lull after great success with his photographs of Michelin roadmaps. In his resurgence in the art world, Jed has retained French novelist Michel Houellebecq (a bit of metafiction that is actually quite successful) to write the text for his exhibition in this postmodern novel about art and capitalism.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/16/the-map-and-the-territory-by-michel-houllebecq.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/16/the-map-and-the-territory-by-michel-houllebecq.htm Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:54:09 +0000 2012-02-16T06:54:09Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/10/the-snow-whale-by-john-minchillo.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Snow-Whale-Minchillo.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/F/N/snow-whale-minchillo.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>John Minchillo's <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Snow-Whale-Minchillo.htm"><em>The Snow Whale</em></a> is an amusing swipe at race and culture, in which a mild office worker, upon discovering he's part Inuit, sets out to join "his people" in their annual whale hunt.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/10/the-snow-whale-by-john-minchillo.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/10/the-snow-whale-by-john-minchillo.htm Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:16:51 +0000 2012-02-10T07:16:51Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/09/the-galley-slave-by-drago-jancar.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Galley-Slave.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/J/N/galley-slave-drago-jancar.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Drago Jancar's <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Galley-Slave.htm"><em>The Galley Slave</em></a> tracks Johannes Ot's travels through late-medieval Europe as he flees from the plague and the paranoid pious of the Inquisition. Feverishly paced and deliriously fun, Ot's episodic exploits crackle with a relentlessness akin to an old, familiar adventure novel.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/09/the-galley-slave-by-drago-jancar.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/09/the-galley-slave-by-drago-jancar.htm Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:52:53 +0000 2012-02-09T06:52:53Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/08/feynman-by-jim-ottaviani-and-leland-myrick.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/Feynman-ottaviani-myrick.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/E/N/feynman.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Richard Feynman, who worked on the Manhattan Project and was an early pioneer of quantum mechanics, is one of the few physicists who have also enjoyed significant status in popular culture - as a result of his accomplishmments, his quirks, and the sheer volume of books written by and about him. Add to this ouvre, Jim Ottaviani's and Leland Myrick's graphic autobiography, <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/Feynman-ottaviani-myrick.htm"><em>Feynman</em></a>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/08/feynman-by-jim-ottaviani-and-leland-myrick.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/08/feynman-by-jim-ottaviani-and-leland-myrick.htm Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:15:48 +0000 2012-02-08T07:15:48Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-journals-of-spalding-gray.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/The-Journals-Of-Spalding-Gray.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/u/L/journals-spalding-gray.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/The-Journals-Of-Spalding-Gray.htm"><em>The Journals of Spalding Gray</em></a> is something of a deep dive into the famous monologist's anxieties and self-analysis. Don't get me wrong. I love Spalding Gray. I watched his movies and attended his performances when came to Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium. For me, that's about the right level of exposure to Gray's boundless self-absorption. For you? Who knows? <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/The-Journals-Of-Spalding-Gray.htm">Read on</a>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-journals-of-spalding-gray.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-journals-of-spalding-gray.htm Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:14:55 +0000 2012-02-02T07:14:55Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-future-of-us-by-jay-asher-and-carolyn-mackler.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/yaliteraturereviews/fr/The-Future-Of-Us.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/H/N/the-future-of-us.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>In <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/yaliteraturereviews/fr/The-Future-Of-Us.htm"><em>The Future of Us</em></a>, which occurs in the early-Internet days of the 1990s, neighboring teens Josh and Emma are able to access Facebook, even though it doesn't exist yet, and see the posts they write in the future. Cowritten by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, <em>The Future of Us</em> explores how teenagers would respond to an influx of information about their futures - is it really your actions in high school that determine your happiness in your 30s? Can changes in behavior lead to changes in the future... and will those changes be for the better?</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-future-of-us-by-jay-asher-and-carolyn-mackler.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/02/02/the-future-of-us-by-jay-asher-and-carolyn-mackler.htm Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:51:11 +0000 2012-02-02T06:51:11Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/31/distrust-that-particular-flavor-by-william-gibson.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/essay/fr/Distrust-That-Particular-Flavor-William-Gibson.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/f/M/distrust-that-particular-flavor-william-gibson.JPG" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>In his introduction to <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/essay/fr/Distrust-That-Particular-Flavor-William-Gibson.htm"><em>Distrust that Particular Flavor</em></a>, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/authors/p/gibson.htm">William Gibson</a> cops to not being entirely comfortable with nonfiction assigments. It did, however, afford him certain benefits - the chance to visit exotic locales, meet interesting people, and ask questions - that Gibson notes, were invaluable to a writer of fiction.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/31/distrust-that-particular-flavor-by-william-gibson.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/31/distrust-that-particular-flavor-by-william-gibson.htm Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:45:24 +0000 2012-01-31T06:45:24Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/30/habibi-by-craig-thompson.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/graphicnovels/fr/Habibi-Craig-Thompson.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/G/N/habibi-craig-thompson.JPG" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>A sprawling epic of nearly 700 pages, Craig Thompson's <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/graphicnovels/fr/Habibi-Craig-Thompson.htm"><em>Habibi</em></a> is the story of two slave children whose love for each other overcomes endless challenges. Set against a backdrop that combines the historical narratives of Islam, Judaism and Christianity with threaded commentary on sexuality, <em>Habibi</em> will most surely become a classic among graphic novels.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/30/habibi-by-craig-thompson.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/30/habibi-by-craig-thompson.htm Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:14:27 +0000 2012-01-30T07:14:27Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/25/anatomy-of-a-disappearance-by-hisham-matar.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Anatomy-Of-A-Disappearance.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/M/M/anatomy-of-a-disappearance.JPG" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a>In Hisham Matar's <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Anatomy-Of-A-Disappearance.htm"><em>Anatomy of a Disappearance</em></a>, Kamal is a Cairo widower; Nuri is his son. When they both fall in love with the same woman, it is Kamal who gets the girl, but then shortly thereafter disappears under mysterious circumstances. <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Anatomy-Of-A-Disappearance.htm">Read more</a>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/25/anatomy-of-a-disappearance-by-hisham-matar.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2012/01/25/anatomy-of-a-disappearance-by-hisham-matar.htm Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:15:19 +0000 2012-01-25T07:15:19Z