Contemporary American Literature (1970-present)

This course was development for 3rd year university students at the Slavyansk State Pedagogical University. Students were studying to become teachers or translators of English or German with an emphasis in !oreign "iterature. This short course was limited to one #$%minute lecture and one #$%minute seminar. &uring the lecture the P'( was asked to introduce ma)or historical trends in *merica literature from +,-$ until the present. &uring the seminar the P'( was asked to focus on ma)or writers of historical periods from +,-$ to the present their brief biographies and e.tracts of their work. This course is recommended for TE!" /E P'(s who find themselves in a situation where there is limited time to teach a sub)ect 0uite unfamiliar to Ukrainian university students. *dditional student self%study and research outside of the lecture and seminar is highly recommended to supplement this course.

Information adapted from An Outline of American Literature, published by the U.S. State Department; Bode, Hi hli hts of American Literature, U.S. Information A ency, !ashin ton D.". #$$%; &uller and !illiams, Introduction to Literature, 'nd edition, &c(ra)*Hill, Inc., USA, #$$%; Buscemi and Smith, +% ,eadin s -lus, .rd edition, &c(ra)*Hill, Inc., USA, #$$/; 0arious Internet research, other 123L H2 -"4s manuals on American Literature, especially research pro0ided by -"4 Daniel (insbur .

Contemporary American Literature (1970-present) Lecture Notes

1atherine '. !it2Simons U.S. Peace 'orps (olunteer Slavyansk State Pedagogical University 3$$-

4hile it is true that the word 5modern6 at times means 5contemporary 6 usually when we use the word 5modern6 in reference to literature it almost e.clusively implies the 7odernist Period. 5'ontemporary6 implies those writers who are still alive and writing today or those writers who were the contemporaries of writers living today. So what makes it +.8 *merican 3.8 "iterature and 3.8 9ow: To answer these 0uestions we identify influences and trends. ;ooks and authors that came before are influences. So as modernism and post%modernism changed the landscape that changed landscape became the new pool from which to draw inspiration. !or e.ample once one author decides to use himself as a character this idea become popular with other authors and sets a precedent becomes a new school of though and is accepted as normal. 'hange is more common today and the results are more varied in terms of the form of a novel. 4hat makes it *merican is that we have *merican history on the big scale and the *merican family affected by it on the small scale. 4e see how diversity affects people especially minorities and how and if immigrants call themselves *mericans. 4e see consumerism consumer culture of violence and addiction to drugs media and violence. 4e continue to see the theme of the *merican dream especially for first second and third generation immigrants. Terrorism had also become a larger theme since ,<++. 4hat makes it new are the trends of manipulating form and content more and more. =n the =nformation *ge we have much more and much smaller and much more fre0uent bits of information. 4e have a lot more information and greater access to it through S7S email =nternet instant messaging T( etc. 4e see more and more varied structures )ust as we see more variety in the structure of novels today. 7edia mi.es and mashed together like listening to a radio broadcast over the =nternet. 4e can manipulate media and authors can manipulate their novels. Stephen 1ing even tried to publish a novel in installments on the =nternet only. >ick 7oody?s work is a collection of songs from a mi.ed tape. This brings us to what we will loosely call the Postmodern Period or Postmodernism@ because as = have said this period is characteri2ed mostly by a lack of unity or uniformity. 4hen = say the word 5Postmodern6 or 5Postmodernism6 many associations probably come to mind. !or the sake of clarity we are going to divide this movement in half and look at it in the two senses it implies. The first sense refers to how it is defined in contrast to its relationship with 7odernism. The prefi. 5post6 simply suggests 5after.6 So 0uite literally Post%modernism is that which comes after 7odernismAthat which is a reaction to the 7odernism movement Blike >omanticism was to the Enlightenment and >ealism was to >omanticism8. =n this sense of the meaning Post%modernism is a bit easier to fit into our linear discussion of literature%%that which comes after and reacts to 7odernism.

=n the second sense of the meaning Postmodernism not only refers to a reaction to 7odernism but also a complete inversion of it. *nd it is in this sense that much of the e.perimental e.istential and surrealistic writing was Band is being8 written. /owever what complicates identifying writers as Postmodern is that a writer cannot e.clusively be considered Postmodern in the way for e.ample Emerson is considered a Transcendentalist. * writer writing in the Post%7odern period of time can only write a postmodern te.t. * writer who might write a realist or naturalist te.t in one instance might in the ne.t produce something Postmodern. *ccording to this definition only a te.t can be postmodern not a writer. * writer can merely employ postmodernist elements. NEW REGIONALISM AND METAFICTION There is nothing new about a regional tradition in *merican "iterature but for a while it seemed that this tradition had disappeared. !or the past decade or so 9ew >egionalism has been making a return and budding talents can surface anywhere. The most refreshing aspects of this style are its e.panse Bacross the entire US*8 and its diversity Bcharacters from every state and every social group8. The 9ew >egionalism writers can be classified as writers in the Post%7odern era. 4hile the 7odernists played with form and content the Post%7odernists play with it some more. These days it seems as though anything goes when it comes to the *merican novel. 7any novelists continue to follow the same 5classic6 structure although many others choose to ignore such conventions. =n Post% 7odernism form and content and linked@ that is the function of a novel cannot be separated from the fact that it is a novel and authors seek to manipulate the form of their writing. The Post%7odern trend of acknowledging form continues in a variety of ways one of which is 5metafiction.6 Cne reason for new methods and structures is an increased e.pressed self%awareness. 4hen the author writes a book the author knows he is writing a book. 4hen we read a book we know we are reading a book. *uthors began to change the relationship between author novel and reader by acknowledging these facts. 1nown as metafiction, this allows an author to address the relationship between fiction and reality. *uthors achieve this goal by appearing as a character in the novel or writing a novel about an author. The following authors have all appeared as characters in their own worksD Philip >oth in Cperation Shylock B+,,$8 ;ret Easton Ellis in "unar Park B3$$E8 Stephen 1ing in The &ark Tower E The &ark Tower F The &ark Tower - B3$$G8 Paul *uster in 'ity of Glass and &ave Eggers in * /eartbreaking 4ork of Staggering Genius B3$$$8. =n short the authors are self%aware. *uthors will also use other authors famous people or other novels within their own writings. 7etafiction is one of the many literary devices which acknowledges that the medium itself can be )ust as important as the message within. 4e choose to write an S7S or a letter or an email or a book or a note. 4hat choice we make is also a message. 4e don?t write an official letter to a friend and we don?t write an S7S to the police.

*uthors of metafiction recogni2e that the book itself is a messageA)ust as the contents of a book are a message. ;y manipulating the form of the book then an author can manipulate the message. !or e.ample /ouse of "eaves by 7ark H. &anielewski is a manuscript written by a blind man about an amateur documentary then found and edited by several people including a tattoo artist. The author uses a number of different fonts and many pages have )ust one word on them or )ust a few phrases. Some paragraphs are written sideways and in various shapes. The form of the novel itself mirrors the plot of the novel and the struggle of the characters. ;ooks like these also reflect society and the times in which they are written. Significant historical or political events technological advances and economic and societal trends all affect how and to what degree an *merican author might or might not e.periment with form and content. !or e.ample &ave Eggers? Iou Shall 1now Cur (elocityJ 'ontains a section in the paperback edition which is not found in the original hardback edition. This section drastically changes the plot and tone of the novel. This techni0ue reflects the information age in which we live when words pictures and music are easily and often adapted and changed to create new works. Kust as rap music makes new songs from old songs from the use of 5samples6 Eggers samples his own book to create a new somewhat different work. Kust as information has become less static the *merican novel has as well. The reader is constantly forced to 0uestion )ust what is true. There is an inability to separate fact from fiction and even fiction from fiction and reflects the difficulty of living in the =nformation *ge. Some authors even include e%mails as part of the narrative. *s opposed to previous shifts from one literary period to the ne.t Blike >ealism to 7odernism and 7odernism to Post%7odernism8 this transition if we can even call it that was not characteri2ed by a noticeable refutation or breaking away. 4hile it is true that the radical e.perimentalism of the si.ties and seventies was slowing down in this period what is seen is the more specific implementation or deepening of postmodern ideas through a narrowing of focus. This narrowing of focus is also offset by the fact that writers and poets no longer belong to or represent a specific movement. Some writers belong to multiple movements or none at all. This is also true about many of the writers we talked about in our previous lecture who are still living and are therefore part of this 'ontemporary Period. Today we are going to look at those writers who demonstrate this new focus on much narrower or more specific issues that stem from ethnicity and gender. Multi-et nic literature like feminism employs deconstructionist thinking and must be understood historically. 7ost notably Ethnic literature was borne out of the /arlem >enaissance of the +,3$s and the 'ivil >ights 7ovement of the +,F$s. Though no less significant was the influence the *merican immigrant had on literature. The continued immigration of the early twentieth century and the fact that immigrants ceased being re0uired to fully integrate Bthat is become like white English%speaking *mericans8 led to the rise of a number of ethnically diverse literary communities. =n contrast to the overt publicly sanctioned racism of the first half of the twentieth century the post 4orld 4ar

== era up to the 'ontemporary Period saw noticeable advances and integration of ethnic writers. Generally speaking ethnic literature e.plores specific issues ethnic communities face. Iet implicitly Ethnic literature also 0uestions the popular understanding of social issues like race racism and class while as the same time bringing into 0uestion the ethnocentric and mono%lingual 0uality of *merican literature Bthat is the implied assumption that white%*merican English%speaking males are the standard of writing8. Some multi%ethnic writers are at times confessional since they write about their personal e.periences. ;lack writers were mostly overlooked or disregarded in their time periods. =t was not until the /arlem >enaissance that black writers started to become more recogni2ed and accepted into the greater literary conversation@ though the /arlem >enaissance was for the most part was a locali2ed phenomenon. 7uch of our re%evaluation or reinterpretation of the history of *merican literature to include some of the early *frican%*merican writers we have mentioned comes from this 7ulti%Ethnic emphasis of the 'ontemporary Period. African American literature since /arlem >enaissance has emerged as an essential feature of the *merican literary landscape. 7ore recently writers like Maya An!elou (19"#-present) $oni Morrison (19%1present) Alice &al'er (19((-present) and )ita *o+e (19,"-present) have continued to e.plore some of the themes we have already mentioned. *ngelou?s most famous work is her memoir I 5no) !hy the "a ed Bird Sin s B+,-$8 deals with the restrictions that were placed upon her in a hostile environment. =n +,,3 she was invited to read one of her poems for ;ill 'linton?s inaugurationAshe read her poem On the -ulse of &ornin . 7orrison?s work has earned her international fame. She is known for e.plore the issue of *frican *merican identity through a style of writing called magical realism. /er first novel 1he Bluest 2ye B+,-$8 is the story of a young black girl who after surviving an abusive father believes her dark eyes have magically turned blue. The young girl believed that because her eyes have turned blue that she will be more loveable. /er other important works include Son of Solomon B+,--8 1ar Baby B+,#+8 and Belo0ed B+,#-8. *lice 4alker calls herself a 5womanist6 writer. /er writings largely deal with feminist issues from a black perspective. /er best%known novel is 1he "olor -urple B+,#38 which attempts to reveal the ways *frican *merican women?s needs have traditionally been overlooked by men. She was largely responsible for renewing public interest in Hora 9eale /urston Bone of the writers we talked about from the /arlem >enaissance8. >ita &ove was named the Poet "aureate of the state of the United States in +,,3. /er work 1homas and Beulah B+,#F8 won her the Pulit2er Pri2e for Poetry. These key figures of *frican%*merican literature have brought a sophistication and intelligence Bthough not to imply that it was historically lacking8 to *frican%*merican concerns. -e.is -American Literature as a distinct branch of Ethnic%"iterature e.plores the traditions and struggles of Kewish *merican culture which includes the themes of the Iiddish language the Kewish faith anti%Semitism the /olocaust and more generally the issues surrounding being a Kew in Gentile *merica. The writings of /aul 0ello. (191,-present) and 0ernard Malamud (191(-19#1) for e.ample e.plore the conflict between secular society and Kewish tradition and between Kews and Gentiles which was

acutely felt by the immigrants who passed through Ellis =sland and by their children and grandchildren. 7alamud more than any other writer attempts to e.press a sense of Kewish identity. /is most well%known work 1he 3i6er B+,FF8 takes place in Ukraine then part of the >ussian !ederation around the turn of the twentieth century. =t is the story of a peasant Iakov ;ok who is falsely accused of murder. The story e.plores the dark anti%Semitism of the region as well as the ability of the hero to survive against all odds. 2saac 0as e+is /in!er (190(-1991) immigrated to the United States in +,3E. /e wrote primarily in Iiddish Bwhich is mostly the combination of German and /ebrew8. /is work is divided between two themes Kews particularly Polish Kews in +,th century >ussiaAas seen in 1he &anor B+,F-8 and 1he 2state B+,F,8Aand the /olocaustAas seen in 2nemies; A Lo0e Story B+,-38. 'urrently one of the most well known Kewish% *merican writers is P ilip )ot 3s (19%% -present). /is first book was a collection of stories called (oodbye "olumbus B+,E,8 which was a collection of stories dealing with Kewish *merican life. /e is also known for his popular late%L,$s trilogy comprising the Pulit2er Pri2e%winning American -astoral B+,,-8 I &arried a "ommunist B+,,#8 and 1he Human Stain B3$$$8. !rom modernity to the present *merican literature has seen an increasing and varied e.perimentation. *uthors manipulate form content and style constantly redefining )ust what an *merican novel or poem can be. 4e can e.amine and define such trends with labels such as modern post%modern post%structuralist and even post%post%modern. =t is enough for us to say that with e.perimentation came even more e.perimentation as the boundaries of what was permissible and possible continued to be pushed out and authors inspired and played off each other. 4hile many authors continue to write novels and poems according to the classic modelAlinear plot about characters with problems written in paragraphs from beginning to endAothers adapt the model drastically in order to convey their message. =n conclusion it should be noted that 7ulti%Ethnic literature is narrow only in the sense that they thematically focus on particular communities of people not that the writings are only for the people of the particular communities. 7ore specifically these writings attempt to inform the public by deconstructing stereotypes in order to more effectively integrate a variety of voices into the *merican landscape. =n the end these writers are aspiring for e0uality and harmony between the se.es and races. !eminist or Ethnic writers are still firstly writers. This brings us to the conclusion of the 'ontemporary Period lecture. 'learly since 'ontemporary literature is still being written this is not a closed period. Unfortunately we did not have time to talk about all popular contemporary authors. >emember in this lecture series we have mentioned only a few of the best%known *merican writersAthe list goes on.

Contemporary American Literature (1970-present) /eminar 5atherine ". 3it7Simons, U.S. -eace "orps 4olunteer, Sla0yans8 State -eda o ical Uni0ersity '99+ Find out what some Americans are reading toda ! IMMIGRANT and M"LTIC"LT"RAL #OICES$ %IS&ANIC AND LATINO WRITERS )ic ard )odri4ue5 (19((- ) The son of 7e.ican immigrants >odrigue2 was born in San !rancisco and received ;* and 7asters degrees from Stanford and a Ph& from the University of 'alifornia "os *ngeles. /e published a collection of stories called /unger of 7emory B+,#38 in which he describes the challenges of growing up = an immigrant household and of enduring the process of assimilation that eventually led him into the *merican mainstream. =n addition to long%form literature articles by >odri0ue2 appear regularly in The *merican >eview and /arper?s maga2ine. =n 5&oes *merica Still E.ist:6 he e.plains what it means for an immigrant to perch between two countries homeland and new homeland of the United States. !rom 6*oes America /till 78ist9:
!or the children of immigrant parents the knowledge comes easier. *merica e.ists everywhere in the city Aon billboards frankly in the smell of !rench fries and popcorn. =t e.ists in the paceD traffic lights the assertions of neon the mysterious bong%bong%bong through the atriums of department stores. *merica e.ists as the voice of the crowd a menacing soundAthe high nasal accent of *merican English. 4hen = was a boy in Sacramento B'alifornia the fifties8 people would ask me 54here you from:6 = was born in this country but = knew the 0uestion meant to decipher my darkness my looks. 7y mother once instructed me to say 5= am an *merican of *merican descent.6 ;y the time = was nine or ten = wanted to say but dared not reply 5= am an *merican.6 =mmigrants come to *merica and against hostility or mere loneliness they recreate a homeland in the parlor tacking up postcards or calendars of some impossible blueAlake or sea or sky. 'hildren of immigrant parents are supposed to perch on a hyphen between two countries. >elatives assume the achievement as much as anyone. >elatives are in my case surprised when the child begins losing old ways. Cne day at the family picnic the boy wanders away from their spiced food and faceless stories to watch other boys play baseball in the distance. There is sorrow in the *merican memory guilty sorrow for having left something behindAPortugal 'hina 9orway. The *merican story is the story of immigrant children and of their childrenAno longer able to speak to grandparents. The memory of e.ile becomes inarticulate as it passes from generation to generation along with wedding rings and pocket watchesAlike some mute stone in a wad of old lace. Europe. *sia. Eden. ;ut it needs to be said if this is a country where one stops being (ietnamese or =talian this is a country where one begins to be an *merican. *merica e.ists as a culture and a grin a faith and a shrug. =t is clasped in a handshake called by a first nameM

2sa;el Allende ;orn in Peru *llende grew up in 'hile and now writes in the United States. She is an internationally best%selling author and her works have been translated from Spanish into many

different languages including English. Some of her most famous and best%selling works are 'asa de los espiritus B/ouse of Spirits8 &e amor y sombra BCf "ove and Shade8 and /i)a de la fortuna B&aughter of !ortune8. /er novels are called transcendental in style because she combines the supernatural with the real in an e.tremely personal version of 5magical realism6. =n /ouse of Spirits *llende creates an emotional romance of rebellious love to describe part of the turbulent history of the Trueba family during the last century. !rom Casa de los espiritus B/ouse of Spirits8 English translationD
;arabas came to the family by way of the sea noted the little girl 'lara with her delicate calligraphy. Then she had the habit of writing important things and later when there was time also writing the trivial things without suspecting that fifty years later the notebooks would serve me in retelling the memories of the past and surviving my own ghost. The day that ;arabas came was /oly Thursday. /e arrived in a cage covered in his own e.crements with a terrible look of indefensible misery but she knew because of his head and the si2e of his skeleton the gigantic legend that he would become. =t was a boring autumn dayM

'LAC( WRITERS Maya An!elou (19"#- ) ;orn 7arguerita Kohnson 7aya *ngelou spent most of her 'hildhood in Stamps *rkansas where her family owned the general store that began the setting for 5Grandmother?s (ictory 6 the fifth chapter of her autobiography. *fter a difficult childhood *ngelou became a dancer actress and writer. She was active in the civil rights movement with 7artin "uther 1ing Kr. 'ontemporary black *mericans have produced many poems of great beauty and considerable range of themes and tones. =t is the most developed ethnic writing in *merica and is e.tremely diverse. *ngelou?s writings have taken various literary forms including drama and her well% known memoir = 1now 4hy the 'aged ;ird Sings B+,-$8 She also wrote a collection of verse entitled Kust Give 7e a 'ool &rink of 4ater Nfore = &iiie B+,-+8. *ngelou was selected to write a poem for the presidential inauguration of President ;ill 'linton in +,,3. !rom 5Grandmother?s (ictory 6 fifth chapter of 2 <no. & y t e Ca!ed 0ird /in!s=
5Thou shall not be dirty6 and 5Thou shall not be impudent6 were the two commandments of grandmother /enderson upon which hung our total salvation. Each night in the bitterest winter we were forced to wash faces arms necks legs and feet before going to bed. She used to add with a smirk that unprofaned people can?t control when venturing into profanity 5and wash as far as possible then wash possible.6 4e would go to the well and wash in the ice%sold clear water. Grease our legs with the e0ually cold stiff (aseline then tiptoe into the house. 4e wiped the dust from our toes and settled down for schoolwork cornbread clabbered milk prayers and bed always in that order. 7omma was famous for pulling the 0uilts off after we had fallen asleep to e.amine our feet. =f they weren?t clean enough for her she took the switch Bshe kept one behind the bedroom door for emergencies8 and woke up the offender wit ha few aptly placed burning reminders.

$oni Morrison (19%1- ) *frican%*merican novelist Toni 7orrison was born in Chio to a spiritually oriented family. She attended /arvard University in 4ashington &.'. and has worked as a senior editor in a ma)or 4ashington publishing house and as a distinguished professor at various universities. 7orrison?s richly woven fiction has won her international acclaim. She writes compelling spirited novels in which she treats black people in a universal manner. =n her early work The ;luest Eyes B+,-$8 a strong%willed young black girl tells the story of Pecola ;reedlove who survives and abusive

father. Pecola believes that her dark eyes have magically become blue and that they will make her lovable. Sula B+,-38 describes the strong friendship of two women. 7orrison shows *frican%*merican women as uni0ue fully individual characters rather than as stereotypes. 7orrison?s Song of Solomon B+,--8 has won several awards. =t follows a black man 7ilkman &ead and his comple. relations with his family and community. ;eloved B+,#-8 is a wrenching story of a woman who murders her children rather than allow them to live as slaves. =t employs the dreamlike techni0ue if 5magical realism6 in depicting a mysterious figure ;eloved who returns to live with the mother who has slit her throat. 7orrison believes her works contain political meaning and are not )ust works of art. She won the 9obel Pri2e for "iterature in +,,3. /er ;eloved was recently named 5the single best work of *merican fiction published in the last 3E years 6 by hundreds of prominent writers critics and editorsJ !rom /on! of /olomon=
The 9orth 'arolina 7utual =nsurance *gent promised to fly from 7ercy to the other side of "ake Superior at 3 o?clock. Two days before the event was to take place he tacked a note on the door of his little yellow house@ *t 3pm on 4ednesday the +#th of !ebruary +,3+ = will take off from 7ercy and fly away on my own wings. Please forgive me. = loved you all. Bsigned8 >obert Smith =9S. *gent. 7r. Smith didn?t draw as big a crowd as "indbergh had four years earlier%not more than G$ or E$ people showed up%because it was already ++ o?clock in the morning on the very 4ednesday he had chosen for his flight before anybody read the note.

Alice &al'er (19((- ) *lso and *frican%*merican writer 4alker is the child of a sharecropper family in rural Georgia and graduated from Sarah "awrence 'ollege where one of her teachers was the politically committed female poet 7uriel >ukeyser. !lannery C?'onnor and Hora 9eale /urston are other writers who have also influenced her work. She has taught at many prestigious *merican colleges and universities. 4alker calls herself a 5womanist6 writer and has long been associated with feminism presenting black e.istence from the female perspective. "ike Toni 7orrison 4alker uses heightened lyrical realism to center on the dreams and failures of credible people. 4ritten in black dialect her novel The 'olor Purple seeks to educate readers about social and racial problems. =t?s the story of the love between two poor black sisters@ their love survives a separation over the years. The theme is the support that women give to each other. =t portrays men as basically unaware of the needs and reality of women. 4alker won a Pulit2er Pri2e for The 'olor Purple in +,#3 and it was made into a movie starring Cprah 4infrey. The following essay 5*m = ;lue:6 first appeared in 7s. 7aga2ine in +,#F. !rom 6Am 2 0lue9:
!or about three years my companion and = rented a small house in the country that stood on the edge of a large meadow that appeared to run from the end of our deck straight into the mountains. The mountains however were 0uite far away and between us and them there was in fact a town. =t was one of the many pleasant aspects of the house that you never really were aware of this. =t was a house of many windows low wide nearly floor to ceiling in the living room which faced the meadow and it was from one of these that = first saw our closest neighbor a large white horse cropping grass flipping its mane and ambling aboutAnot over the entire meadow which stretched well out of sight of the house but over the five or so fenced%in acres that were ne.t to the twenty%odd that we had rented. = soon learned that the horse whose name was ;lue belonged to a man who lived in another town but was boarded by our neighbors ne.t door. Cccasionally one of the children usually a stocky teenager but sometimes a much younger girl or boy could be seen riding ;lue. They would appear in the meadow

climb up on his back ride furiously for ten or fifteen minutes then get off slap ;lue on the flanks and not be seen again for a month or more.

ASIAN WRITERS Ma8ine >on! <in!ston (19(0- ) ;orn in +,G$ to recently arrived immigrants from 'hina 1ingston grew up having to negotiate between two very different cultures. /er gender in a culture that valued males over females did not make life any easier. These two issues became the main themes of her writing. >ecent developments in *sian%*merican literature have included an emphasis on Pacific >im studies and women?s writing. *sian%*mericans writers are generally resisting the stereotype that they are the 5e.otic6 and 5good6 minority. 1ingston e.plores 'hinese tradition as well as family history and cultural diversity. /er most memorable work is 4oman 4arriorD 7emoirs of a Girlhood *mong Ghosts B+,-E8 which is a collection of autobiographical narrative essays through which she seeks to understand her female ancestors and the ways they helped to form her won identity. She has received more than 3$ awards fellowships and honorary degrees for her work. !rom 59o 9ame 4oman6 in &oman &arrior=
5Iou must not tell anyone 6 my mother said 5what = am about to tell you. =n 'hina your father had a sister who killed herself. She )umped into the family well. 4e say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born. 5=n +,3G )ust a few days after our village celebrated seventeen hurry%up weddingsAto make sure that every young man who went Nout on the road? would responsibly come homeAyour father and his brothers and your grandfather and his brothers and your aunt?s new husband sailed for *merica the Gold 7ountain. =t was your grandfather?s last trip. Those lucky enough to get contracts waved goodbye from the decks. They fed and guarded the stowaways and helped them off in 'uba 9ew Iork ;ali /awaii. N4e?ll meet in 'alifornia ne.t year ? they said. *ll of them sent money homeM

Amy $an Tan is a 'hinese%*merican author who was born in Cakland 'alifornia and received her 7aster?s degree in linguistics from San Kose State University. She writes luminous novels about 'hinese life transposed to post%4orld 4ar == *merica. 7ost of Tan?s characters show the generations of 'hinese women in one family and their intricate family tree as well as many instances of the generation gap and culture clashes. The Koy "uck 'lub B+,#,8 and The 1itchen God?s 4ife B+,,+8 have captured readers and viewers with the former being made into a ma)or motion picture film. Tan?s first book The Koy "uck 'lub was also a finalist for the 9ational ;ook *ward and the 9ational ;ook 'ritics 'ircle *ward. =t received the +,,$ ;ay *rea >eviewers *ward for !iction. /er essays have appeared in publications such as "ife maga2ine and her fiction writing has been published in The *tlantic 7c'all?s and others. She and her husband live in San !rancisco home to a large 'hinese%*merican population. !rom $ e <itc en ?od@s &ife=
*nd then "ao Gu pointed to different parts of the house saying 6 !or Cld East fi. this. !or 9ew 4est fi. that.6 /e was talking about the styles of the two halves of the house. Cld East was the part where everyone lived slept and cooked where babies were born where old people died. =t was a big 'hinese house only one story with a s0uare courtyard bordered by walkways and living 0uarters all the doors and windows facing in. The most important rooms faced eastD the kitchen at one end Uncle?s room and the sitting room at the other.

9ew 4est had been added later maybe fifty years before when our family first became rich on foreign money selling silk thread for curtains velvet and carpets.

)EWIS% WRITERS P ilip )ot >oth is a Kewish%*merican from 9ewark 9ew Kersey and a second%generation immigrant. /e attended ;ucknell University in Pennsylvania and earned a 7asters in English "iterature from the University of 'hicago. /e was first published +,E, with Goodbye 'olumbus which is a novella and five short stories. /e won the 9ational ;ook award +,F$ and )oined the army for two years. Cne of his most famous characters is a semi%alter ego 9athan Huckerman. >oth won a Pulit2er Pri2e in +,,- for *merican Pastoral. Cne of his most famous books is Portnoy?s 'omplaint about a neurotic and se.%obsessed young Kewish man. >oth is known for his Post% 7odern style through the use of metafiction. *merican Pastoral was recently voted one of the top five 5best works of *merican fiction published in the last 3E years 6 by hundreds of prominent critics writers and editors. /e is the most pri2e%winning current *merican authorJ !rom 'hapter + of American Pastoral
The Swede. &uring the war years when = was still a grade school boy this was a magical name in our 9ewark neighborhood even to adults )ust a generation removed from the cityLs old Prince Street ghetto and not yet so flawlessly *mericani2ed as to be bowled over by the prowess of a high school athlete. The name was magical@ so was the anomalous face. Cf the few fair%comple.ioned Kewish students in our preponderantly Kewish public high school none possessed anything remotely like the steep%)awed insentient (iking mask of this blue%eyed blond born into our tribe as Seymour =rving "evov. The Swede starred as end in football center in basketball and first baseman in baseball. Cnly the basketball team was ever any good % twice winning the city championship while he was its leading scorer % but as long as the Swede e.celled the fate of our sports teams didnLt matter much to a student body whose elders largely undereducated and overburdened venerated academic achievement above all else. Physical aggression even camouflaged by athletic uniforms and official rules and intended to do no harm to Kews was not a traditional source of pleasure in our community % advanced degrees were. 9onetheless through the Swede the neighborhood entered into a fantasy about itself and about the world the fantasy of sports fans everywhereD almost like Gentiles Bas they imagined Gentiles8 our families could forget the way things actually work and make an athletic performance the repository of all their hopes. Primarily they could forget the war. The elevation of Swede "evov into the household *pollo of the 4ee0uahic Kews can best be e.plained = think by the war against the Germans and the Kapanese and the fears that it fostered. 4ith the Swede indomitable on the playing field the meaningless surface of life provided a bi2arre delusionary kind of sustenance the happy release into a Swedian innocence for those who lived in dread of never seeing their sons or their brothers or their husbands again.

INDIAN WRITERS - umpa La iri "ahiri is an =ndian%*merican who has lived in the United States for almost 3- years. She is the author of =nterpreter of 7aladies which won the Pulit2er Pri2e. She speaks about the *merican family from an immigrant perspective. (see Newswee* article a;out er for more information)

NATI#E AMERICAN WRITERS AND &OETS NA /cott Momaday (19%(- ) /alf 1iowan and part 'herokee 7omaday was born in Cklahoma and grew up on 9ava)o *pache and Pueblo reservations in northern 9ew 7e.ico. * distinguished writer and professor of English at the University of *ri2ona 7omaday is also an accomplished painter photographer and tribal dancer. /is prose poetry illustrations and photographs celebrate the culture of 9ative *mericans and their reverence for the land. 7omaday is best known for The 4ay to >ainy 7ountain B+,F,8. =n +,F# he won a Pulit2er Pri2e for /ouse 7ade of &awn. !rom $ e &ay to )ainy Mountain=
* single knoll rises out of the plain in Cklahoma north and west of the 4ichita >ange. !or my people the 1iowas it is an old landmark and they gave it the name >ainy 7ountain. The hardest weather in the world is there. 4inter brings bli22ards hot tornadic winds arise in the spring and in the summer the prairie is an anvil?s edge. The grass turns brittle and brown and it cracks beneath your feet. There are green belts along the rivers and creeks linear groves of hickory and pecan willow and witch ha2el. *ta distance in Kuly or *ugust the steaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire. Great green%and%yellow grasshoppers are everywhere in the tall grass popping up like corn to sting the flesh and tortoises crawl about on the red earth going nowhere in the plenty of time. "oneliness is an aspect of the land. *ll things in the plain are isolate@ there is no confusion of ob)ects in the eye but one hill or one tree or one man. To look upon that landscape in the early morning with the sun at your back is to lose the sense of proportion. Iour imagination comes to life and this you think is where 'reation was begun.

OT%ER CONTEM&ORAR+ AND &OST,MODERN WRITERS -oyce Carol Bates Cates is a prolific novelist storywriter poet and essayist from the northeastern United States. =n her haunting works characters are obsessed with attempts to achieve fulfillment within their grotes0ue environments but this leads to their destruction. Some of her finest works are stories in collections such as The 4heel of "ove B+,-$8 and 4here *re Iou Going 4here /ave Iou ;een: B+,-G8. Cates states 6 = would be unable to write about anything that did not seem to me both uni0ue and universal.6 She has been nominated for a Pulit2er Pri2e and teaches at Princeton University. !rom &e &ere $ e Mul+aneys= 4e were the 7ulvaneys remember us:
Iou may have thought our family was larger often =?d meet people who believed we 7ulvaneys were a virtual clan but in fact there were only si. of us@ my dad who was 7ichael Kohn 7ulvaney Sr. my mom 'orinne my brothers 7ike Kr. and Patrick and my sister 7arianne and meAKudd. !rom summer +,EE to spring +,#$ when my dad and mom were forced to sell the property there were 7ulvaneys at /igh Point !arm on the /igh Point >oad seven miles north and east of the small city of 7t. Ephraim in upstate 9ew Iork in the 'hautau0ua (alley appro.imately seventy miles south of "ake Cntario. /igh Point !arm was well%known property in the (alley in time to be designated a historical landmark and 57ulvaney6 was a well%known name.

!or a long time you envied us then you pitied us. !or a long time you admired us then you thought (ood:;that<s )hat they deser0e.

Cormac McCart y 7c'arthy e.plores the *merican Southwest desert in his novels ;lood 7eridian B+,#E8 *ll the Pretty /orses B+,,38 and The 'rossing B+,,G8. 7c'arthy is a reclusive but immensely imaginative writer who is )ust beginning to get his due on the U.S. literary scene. Generally considered the rightful heir to the southern gothic tradition 7c'arthy is as intrigued by the wildness of the terrain as he is by human wildness and unpredictability. /e often writes contractions ungrammatically and can write with a clearly southern speech pattern for his characters as seen in the e.cerpt below. !rom No Country Cor Bld MenD
I sent one boy to the as chamber in Hunsts0ille. One and only one. &y arrest and my testimony. I )ent up there and 0isited )ith him t)o or three times. 1hree times. 1he last day )as the day of his e6ecution. I didnt ha0e to o but I did. I sure didnt )ant to. He 8illed a fourteen year old irl and I can tell you ri ht no) I ne0er did ha0e no reat desire to 0isit )ith him let alone o to his e6ecution but I done it. 1he papers said it )as a crime of passion and he told me there )asnt no passion to it. He<d been datin this irl, youn as she )as. He )as nineteen. And he told me that he had been plannin to 8ill somebody for as lon as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he<d do it a ain. Said he 8ne) he )as oin to hell.

-oan *idion (19%(- ) ;orn in Sacramento 'alifornia &idion has served as *ssociate !eature Editor for (ogue maga2ine as a regular columnist for the Saturday Evening Post and as a contributing editor to The 9ational >eview. She is as much a )ournalist as a novelist and helped to put contemporary 'alifornia on the map. /er essays are subtle portraits of the *merican e.perience. /er ma)or works include the novelsD Play =t *s =t "ays B+,-+8 which shockingly describes the aimlessness of the /ollywood scene and * ;ook of 'ommon Prayer B+,--8 and &emocracy B+,#G8. She also writes essays such as Salvador B+,#38 and 7iami B+,#-8 as well as several screenplays. The following e.cerpt is from Salvador and describes her e.periences in El Salvador. !rom 5$ e Metropolitan Cat edral in /an /al+ador 6 in SalvadorD
&uring the week before = flew down to El Salvador a Salvadoran woman who works for my husband and me in "os *ngeles gave me repeated instructions about what we must and must not do. 4e must not go out at night. 4e must stay off the street whenever possible. 4e must never ride in buses or ta.is never leave the capital never imagine that our passports would protect us. 4e must not even consider the hotel a safe place@ people were killed in hotels. She spoke with considerable vehemence because two of her brothers had been killed in Salvador in *ugust of +,#+ in their beds. The throats of both brothers had been slashed. /e father had been cut but stayed alive. /er mother had been beaten. Twelve of her other relatives aunts and uncles and cousins had been taken from their houses one night the same *ugust and their bodies had been found some time later in a ditch. = assured her that we would remember we would be careful we would in fact be so careful that we would probably Btrying for a light touch8 spend all our time in church.

0ar;ara <in!sol+er 1ingsolver grew up in Eastern 1entucky and now lives with her husband near the mountains outside of Tucson *ri2ona. She is the author of eighth books a collection of stories and a book of essays. The Poisonwood ;ible tells the story of a missionary family in *frica@ it received international acclaim and was recommended reading for Cprah?s book club. The ;ean Trees tells the story of Taylor Greer who grew up poor in rural 1entucky with the goals of avoiding

pregnancy and getting away. She heads out west with high hopes and a barely functioning car. *long the way she comes to care for a three%year%old 9ative *merican girl named Turtle and must comes to terms with being a 5surprise6 mother and putting down roots. !rom $ e 0ean $rees=
= have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since = saw a tractor tire blow up and throw 9ewt /ardbine?s father over the top of the Standard Cil sign. =?m not lying. /e got stuck up there. *bout nineteen people congregated during the time it took for 9orman Strick to walk up to the 'ourthouse and blow the whistle for the volunteer fire department. They eventually did come with the ladder and haul him down and he wasn?t dead but lost his hearing and in many other ways was never the same afterward. They said he overfilled the tire. 9ewt /ardbine was not my friend he was )ust one of the big boys who had failed every grade at least once and so was practically going on twenty in the si.th grade sitting in the back and flicking little wads of chewed paper into my hair. ;ut the day = saw his daddy up there like some old overalls slung over a fence = had a feeling about what 9ewt?s whole life was going to amount to and = felt sorry for him. ;efore that e.act moment = don?t believe = had given much thought to the future.

&allace /te!ner (1909-199%) Stegner was a Pulit2er Pri2e%winning author of contemporary fiction a teacher and a conservationist. /is life stretched from the horse and buggy age of the last homestead frontier to the information age of the =nternet. /e spent the bulk of his life in various locales in the 4est and had a regional outlook even before it became popular. /e won a Pulit2er Pri2e for *ngel of >epose B+,-+8 and a 9ational ;ook *ward for Spectator ;ird B+,-F8. *ngel of >epose is a story of personal historical and geographical discovery by a retired historian who is confined to a wheelchair@ he sets out to write his grandparents? remarkable story of building a life on the *merican frontier. /is 'rossing to Safety became a best seller. Stegner once said 5The west does not need to e.plore its myths much further@ it has already relied on them too long.6 !rom An!el of )epose=
=ncreasingly after my amputation and during the long time when = lay around feeling sorry for myself = came to feel like the contour bird. = wanted to fly around the Sierra foothills backward )ust looking. =f there was no longer any sense in pretending to be interested in where = was going = could consult where =?ve been. *nd = don?t mean the Ellen business. = honestly believe this isn?t that personal. The "yman 4ard who married Ellen /ammond and begot >odman 4ard and taught history and wrote certain books and monographs about the 4estern frontier and suffered certain personal catastrophes and perhaps deserved them and survives them after a fashion and now sits talking to himself into a microphoneAhe doesn?t matter that much anymore. = would like to put him in a frame of reference and comparison. !ooling around in the papers my grandparents especially my grandmother left behind = get glimpses of lives close to mine related to mine in ways = recogni2e but don?t completely comprehend. =?d like to live in their clothes a while if only so = don?t have to live in my own. *ctually as = look down my nose to where my left leg bends and my right leg stops = reali2e that it isn?t backward that = want to go but downward. = want to touch once more the ground = have been maimed away from.

C uc' Pala niu' (191"- ) =t is no surprise that the theme of terrorism has found its way into many Post%7odern works due to the attacks of September ++ 3$$+ and even terrorist events prior to it. Palahniuk is the author of !ight 'lub which describes the creation of a small time underground terrorist organi2ation. =t was made into a ma)or motion picture starring ;rad Pitt. Palahniuk?s world has always been 5different6 because he?s not afraid to step into a dark worldview and watch for what crawls out@

this can make his works seem disturbing. =n his 9ational ;estseller Stranger Than !ictionD True Stories B3$$G8 he compiles a collection of odd stories from odd people. !rom the =ntroduction to /tran!er $ an Ciction=
=f you haven?t already noticed all my books are about a lonely person looking for some way to connect with other people. =n a way that is the opposite of the *merican &reamD to get so rich you can rise above the rabble all those people on the freeway or worse the bus. 9o the dream is a big house off alone somewhere. * penthouse like /oward /ughes. Cr a mountaintop castle like 4illiam >andolph /earst. Some lovely isolated nest where you can control free from conflict and pain. 4here you can rule. 4hether it?s a ranch in 7ontana or basement apartment with ten thousand &(&s and high%speed =nternet access it never fails. 4e get there and we?re alone. *nd we?re lonely. *fter we?re miserable enoughAlike the narrator in his 3i ht "lub condo or the narrator isolated by her own beautiful face in In0isible &onstersAwe destroy our lovely nest and force ourselves back into the larger world. =n so many ways that?s also how you write a novel. Iou plan and research. Iou spend time alone building this lovely world where you control control control everything. Iou let the telephone ring. The emails pile up. Iou stay in your world until you destroy it. Then you come back to be with other people.

*a+e 7!!ers (1970- ) Eggers grew up in "ake !orest =llinois and attended the University of =llinois at Urbana% 'hampaign. /e lives in San !rancisco. Eggers began writing as a Salon.com editor and founded 7ight maga2ine. /is first book was a memoir Bwith fictional elements8 * /eartbreaking 4ork of Staggering Genius B3$$$8. =t focuses on the authorLs struggle to raise his younger brother in San !rancisco following the sudden deaths of his parents. The book 0uickly became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulit2er Pri2e for General 9on%!iction. The memoir was praised for its original idiosyncratic self%referencing and for several original stylistic elements. Some editions were published with a lengthy apologetic postscript entitled O7istakes 4e 1new 4e 4ere 7akingO. =n 3$$3 he published his first fiction novel Iou Shall 1now Cur (elocity a story about a frustrating world%wide attempt to give away money to deserving people. *n e.panded and revised version was released as Sacrament in 3$$3 and then retitled Iou Shall 1now Cur (elocityJ for its (intage imprint distribution. /e has since also published a collection of short stories /ow 4e *re /ungry and three politically%themed serials for Salon.com. Eggers is also the founder of &cS)eeney=s an independent publishing house. 7cSweeneyLs produces a 0uarterly literary )ournal 7cSweeneyLs@ a monthly )ournal The ;eliever@ and a 0uarterly &(& maga2ine !holphin. Cther works include The !uture &ictionary of *merica 'reated in &arkness by Troubled *mericans and the O&r. and 7r. /aggis%Cn%4heyO childrenLs books which Eggers writes with his younger brother. Eggers currently teaches writing in San !rancisco at #3F (alencia a nonprofit tutoring center and writing school for children which he cofounded in 3$$3. !rom A >eart;rea'in! &or' of /ta!!erin! ?enius
7y mother is on the couch. *t this point she does not move from the couch. There was a time until a few months ago when she was still up and about walking and driving running errands. *fter that there was a period when she spent most of her time in her chair the one ne.t to the couch occasionally doing things going out whatnot. !inally she moved to the couch but even then for a while at least while spending most

of her time on the couch every night at ++ p.m. or so she had made a point of making her way up the stairs in her bare feet still tanned brown in 9ovember slow and careful on the green carpet to my sisterLs old bedroom. She had been sleeping there for years %% the room was pink and clean and the bed had a canopy and long ago she resolved that she could no longer sleep with my fatherLs coughing. ;ut the last time she went upstairs was weeks ago. 9ow she is on the couch not moving from the couch reclining on the couch during the day and sleeping there at night in her nightgown with the T( on until dawn a comforter over her toe to neck. People know. 4hile reclining on the couch most of the day and night on her back my mom turns her head to watch television and turns it back to spit up green fluid into a plastic receptacle. The plastic receptacle is new. !or many weeks she had been spitting the green fluid into a towel not the same towel but a rotation of towels one of which she would keep on her chest. ;ut the towel on her chest my sister ;eth and = found after a short while was not such a good place to spit the green fluid because as it turned out the green fluid smelled awful much more pungent an aroma than one might e.pect. BCne e.pects some sort of odor sure but this.> *nd so the green fluid could not be left there festering and then petrifying on the terry%cloth towels. B;ecause the green fluid hardened to a crust on the terry%cloth towels they were almost impossible to clean. So the green%fluid towels were one%use only and even if you used every corner of the towels folding and turning turning and folding they would only last a few days each and the supply was running short even after we plundered the bathrooms closets the garage.8 So finally ;eth procured and our mother began to spit the green fluid into a small plastic container which looked makeshift like a piece of an air%conditioning unit but had been provided by the hospital and was as far as we knew designed for people who do a lot of spitting up of green fluid. =tLs a molded plastic receptacle cream%colored in the shape of a half%moon which can be kept handy and spit into. =t can be cupped around the mouth of a reclining person )ust under the chin in a way that allows the depositor of green bodily fluids to either raise oneLs head to spit directly into it or to simply let the fluid dribble down over his or her chin and then into the receptacle waiting below. =t was a great find the half%moon plastic receptacle. OThat thing is handy huh:O = ask my mother walking past her toward the kitchen. OIeah itLs the catLs meow O she says. = get a popsicle from the refrigerator and come back to the family room.

Lydia *a+is is a contemporary *merican author and translator of !rench. She has published three collections of short stories. The first is ;reak =t &own and the others are *lmost 9o 7emory and Samuel Kohnson =s =ndignant. /er stories are acclaimed for their brevity and humor. 7any are only one or two sentences. =n fact some of her stories are considered poetry or somewhere between philosophy and poetry or short story. She has also translated Proust ;lanchot !oucault and other !rench writers. *n e.ample of her writing from Samuel Kohnson =s =ndignant entitled O$ ey ta'e turns usin! a .ord t ey li'e.O
O=tLs e6traordinary O says one woman. O=t is e.traordinary O says the other.

0ret 7aston 7llis (191(- ) ;orn in "os *ngeles he is considered to be one of the ma)or Generation P authors. /is novels feature a Oflat effectO and a glossy empty style that garners him e.tremely polari2ed reviews. Ellis has been described as Oa profoundly moral writer QwithR characteristically spare and hypnotic prose style which beats out these lives of 0uiet desperation with a slow pulse as gentle as it is compellingO B&odern ,e0ie)8. /e has called himself a moralist while he has been pegged as a nihilist. /is characters are young generally vacuous people who are aware of their depravity

but choose to en)oy it. The novels are also linked by common recurring characters and locales Bsuch as "os *ngeles and 9ew Iork8. /is novel *merican Psycho is a graphically violent account of a serial killer and its release led to many protests especially by women?s groups.