A storyteller of modern America’s underbelly with a literary, ruminative style, he inspired a Ryan Gosling movie and earned critical acclaim. Read more
Tag: American Authors
Upton Sinclair’s California Hideaway Hits the Market
These days, the 1920s house, situated in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, a permanent record of the outsized role the home had in Sinclair’s life. Coodley says that Sinclair intended for his home to be repurposed as a learning center following his death, but it’s been in the hands of private ownership since his passing in 1968. In a rare move, though, the home has just been listed for sale, 15 years since it last went on the market. It’s asking $1,999,000. Read more
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Fern Michaels, Prolific Author of Romance Novels, Dies at 92
Fern Michaels, a mother of five in suburban New Jersey who responded to her husband’s request to get a job by taking up writing, only to blossom into a best-selling author of more than 200 romances and thrillers, died on Nov. 12 at her home in Summerville, S.C. Read more
Daniel Woodrell, ‘Country Noir’ Novelist of ‘Winter’s Bone,’ Dies at 72
Daniel Woodrell, a novelist known for prose as rugged and elemental as the igneous rock of the Ozark Mountains, his birthplace, which he returned to just as his artistic craftsmanship peaked, died on Friday at his home in West Plains, Mo. Read more
‘Languages of Home’ by John Edgar Wideman
Novelist, essayist, and critic Wideman delivers a profound, career-spanning collection of essays on literature, sports, and culture … Incisive and enthralling, the collection puts Wideman’s keen critical eye and cultural awareness on full display. The result is an essential chronicle of the American experience. Read more
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Anne Rice Fans Flock to New Orleans for a Memorial Tribute to the Horror Literature Legend
Fans lined up from Orpheum Theater’s entrance all the way down the block to the VooDoo Mart liquor store on Canal Street Saturday, awaiting an opportunity to finally bid farewell to the late Anne Rice, the New Orleans-born queen of Goth literature. No one since Marie Laveau contributed more to New Orleans’ supernatural mystique than she. Read more
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Thomas Perry Dies at 78; Writer of Popular, Unconventional Thrillers
Thomas Perry, a best-selling, critically acclaimed novelist whose 32 inventive thrillers were known for their intricate plots, unexpectedly sympathetic villains and intriguing heroes, among them a Native American woman who helps people take on new identities, died on Sept. 15 in Los Angeles. Read more
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025)
Author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 82, died August 31, 2025. She was a prolific author who wrote more than 80 books, most in the horror, SF, and mystery genres, and was best known for her sprawling Saint-Germain historical vampire series. Read more
Author Greg Iles Dead at 65
Legendary Mississippi author Greg Iles died Friday after a long battle with cancer. Read more
‘Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler’
Morris situates Butler’s career amid salient historical events and social movements, and she underscores the deep research that fueled Butler’s imagination, from reading slave narratives in Baltimore archives to studying precolonial West African, Nubian, and Igbo languages and cultures. Butler’s fictions—which Morris reads perceptively—convey cautionary tales warning against fascism, gender-based violence, and the consequences of global warming. All, Morris asserts, are driven by the question: What does it mean to be human? Read more
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