James Baldwin would have turned 100 on Aug. 2 this year. His final works were published almost 40 years ago, just two years before his death in 1987. Yet his writing is as imperative as ever. He wrote with the kind of moral vision that was as comforting as it was chastising — almost surely the influence of the pulpit he once occupied as a child preacher in his native Harlem. Read more
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With any prolific author, readers are likely to have particular favorites, which may not be the same as anyone else’s. Your list is likely to be just as good as mine – but here are the ones I recommend. Read more
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The humorist Jean Shepherd—whose writings inspired A Christmas Story—left a surprisingly deep impression on American culture. Read more
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For decades, Juan Rulfo’s novel, “Pedro Páramo,” has cast an uncanny spell on writers. A new translation may bring it broader appeal. Read more
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A wildly prolific son of Texas, McMurtry was a tangle of contradictions. Here’s where to start. Read more
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He is best-known as the author of A Clockwork Orange, his 1962 savage social satire, but Anthony Burgess saw himself primarily as a thwarted musician. Although self-taught, he was a prolific composer, and now a previously unknown piece for a string quartet is to receive its world premiere following its discovery. Read more
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Skeletons in the Closet, originally published in 1976 and newly translated by Alyson Waters, is up there with his brutal best. Read more
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Her writing was admired by Hemingway. Then her books — and body — disappeared. Read more
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Clever and dexterous, his writing delights in puzzles, puns and lepidoptera. Here’s where to start. Read more
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Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Watch trailer
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