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 2013-05-16T16:59:47Z Thu, 16 May 2013 16:59:47 +0000 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/20/the-unchangeable-spots-of-leopards-by-kristpoher-jansma.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Unchangeable-Spots-Of-Leopards.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/m/P/unchangeable-spots-leopards.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Unchangeable-Spots-Of-Leopards.htm"><em>The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards</em></a> follows an uninspired writer who attempts to bend the truths around him into a compelling work of fiction. Jansma's whole book is built of nested metafictional vignettes: an author writing about authors writing about authors. This is a book not about what happens but how that story is told, and while that's a bold thesis for a novel, it doesn't leave room for much else to succeed.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/20/the-unchangeable-spots-of-leopards-by-kristpoher-jansma.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/20/the-unchangeable-spots-of-leopards-by-kristpoher-jansma.htm Mon, 20 May 2013 05:20:24 +0000 2013-05-20T05:20:24Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/16/stephen-king-flowchart.htm <p>Stephen King fans &#160;- you're going to love Tessiegirl's <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://tessiedesigncompany.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-stephen-king-universe-flowchart.html">Stephen King Universe Flowchart</a>, a comprehensive mapping of the intricately interwoven world of Stephen King characters! Kind of difficult to read online? No worries, there. The Stephen King flowchart is available in print, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://tessiedesigncompany.blogspot.com/2013/05/printing-my-own-opportunities.html">self-published by the artist</a>.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/16/stephen-king-flowchart.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/16/stephen-king-flowchart.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 16:59:47 +0000 2013-05-16T16:59:47Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/09/a-tale-for-the-time-being-by-ruth-ozeki.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Time-Being-Ozeki.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/d/P/tale-for-the-time-being.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a>Ruth Ozeki's <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Time-Being-Ozeki.htm">A Tale for the Time Being</a></em> is a story about a Japanese-American novelist named Ruth who, while walking the beach of her small island, happens upon a diary that has washed ashore. The diary, belonging to a 16-year-old Japanese girl named Naoko, reveals a narrative so compelling that it draws Ruth into the world of the storyteller in a fantastic exploration of story, how we make it and how it makes us.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/09/a-tale-for-the-time-being-by-ruth-ozeki.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/09/a-tale-for-the-time-being-by-ruth-ozeki.htm Thu, 09 May 2013 06:12:11 +0000 2013-05-09T06:12:11Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/06/the-world-until-yesterday-by-jared-diamond.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/socialsciences/fr/The-World-Until-Yesterday-By-Jared-Diamond.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/h/P/world-until-yesterday-diamond.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Jared Diamond, the author of <em>Collapse</em> and <em>Guns, Germs, and Steel</em>, delivers a fascinating portrait of primitive societies in <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/socialsciences/fr/The-World-Until-Yesterday-By-Jared-Diamond.htm"><em>The World Until Yesterday</em></a> based upon research and his own experience living among New Guinea Highlanders. Diamond is an astute thinker draws his readers into considering the modern world in light of the experience of our predecessors.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/06/the-world-until-yesterday-by-jared-diamond.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/05/06/the-world-until-yesterday-by-jared-diamond.htm Mon, 06 May 2013 06:36:57 +0000 2013-05-06T06:36:57Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/30/wise-men-by-stuart-nadler.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Wise-Men-Nadler.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/g/P/wise-men-nadler.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Stuart Nadler's novel <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/Wise-Men-Nadler.htm"><em>Wise Men</em></a> tells the story of Hilly Wise, the wealthy son of the infamous aviation attorney Arthur Wise. As <em>Wise Men</em> spans Hilly's life, the reader finds the protagonist torn between living in his father's shadow and forging his own path.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/30/wise-men-by-stuart-nadler.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/30/wise-men-by-stuart-nadler.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:09:40 +0000 2013-04-30T06:09:40Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/29/the-strange-tale-of-panorama-island-by-edogawa-ranpo.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/mysteryreviews/fr/Panorama-Island-Ranpo.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/f/P/panorama-island-ranpo.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Edogawa Ranpo's <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/mysteryreviews/fr/Panorama-Island-Ranpo.htm"><em>The Strange Tale of Panorama Island</em></a> follows Hirosuke Hitomi, a struggling writer who dreams of creating a natural utopia. When a wealthy acquaintance of Hirosuke's passes away, a plan is put into motion for Hirosuke to steal the identity of the deceased. With money from the dead man's estate, Hirosuke might now have the means to build the Arcadian world he's always imagined.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/29/the-strange-tale-of-panorama-island-by-edogawa-ranpo.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/29/the-strange-tale-of-panorama-island-by-edogawa-ranpo.htm Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:08:47 +0000 2013-04-29T06:08:47Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/28/virtual-light-by-william-gibson.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/sciencefictionreviews/fr/Virtual-Light-Gibson.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/e/P/virtual-light-gibson.JPG" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Berry Rydell never envisioned his fall from respected police officer to driving a bounty hunter around San Francisco, just as Chevette Washington never imagined that a spontaneous act of pick-pocketing would land her in so much trouble. In William Gibson's 1993 novel <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/sciencefictionreviews/fr/Virtual-Light-Gibson.htm">Virtual Light</a></em>, the pair find themselves in possession of a pair of virtual reality glasses and in flight from bad guys who will do anything to get them.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/28/virtual-light-by-william-gibson.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/28/virtual-light-by-william-gibson.htm Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:08:24 +0000 2013-04-28T16:08:24Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/25/the-real-jane-austen-a-life-in-small-things-by-paula-byrne.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/The-Real-Jane-Austen-A-Life-In-Small-Things.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/Y/P/real-jane-austen-byrne.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>The conventional view of Jane Austen as "dear Aunt Jane" is put irrevocably to rest in <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/The-Real-Jane-Austen-A-Life-In-Small-Things.htm"><em>The Real Jane Austen</em></a>, a superb new and insightful biography showing Austen to be a woman more modern, more aware, and much tougher than the image that evolves from her novels and previous biographies.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/25/the-real-jane-austen-a-life-in-small-things-by-paula-byrne.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/25/the-real-jane-austen-a-life-in-small-things-by-paula-byrne.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 05:20:52 +0000 2013-04-25T05:20:52Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/24/world-book-night-an-unqualified-success.htm <p><img class="alignnone" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/contemporarylit/1/H/c/P/image.jpeg" alt="World Book Night 2013" /></p> <p>Last night, as part of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/">World Book Night 2013</a>, my 12-year-old daughter Rowan and I gave out 20 copies of <em><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/books/2013/item/424-me-talk-pretty-one-day">Me Talk Pretty One Day</a></em> by David Sedaris. Though we stood among 20,000 volunteers worldwide, we were but two individuals in our community approaching random passersby with a bit of an odd query.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/24/world-book-night-an-unqualified-success.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/24/world-book-night-an-unqualified-success.htm Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:24:25 +0000 2013-04-24T14:24:25Z http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/22/the-burgess-boys-by-elizabeth-strout.htm <p><a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Burgess-Boys-Strout.htm"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/contemporarylit/1/G/_/P/burgess-boys-strout.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="right" /></a></p> <p>Jim and Bob Burgess return to their childhood hometown of Shirley Falls, Maine to guide their sister and her son through a difficult legal situation. <a href="http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/fiction/fr/The-Burgess-Boys-Strout.htm"><em>The Burgess Boys</em></a> tells the story of a dangerously misinterpreted prank but grows into a sweeping meditation on family, memory, and the true meaning of home.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/22/the-burgess-boys-by-elizabeth-strout.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2013/04/22/the-burgess-boys-by-elizabeth-strout.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 05:20:16 +0000 2013-04-22T05:20:16Z