*Denotes young adult book, children’s book, or very short book; in general, two such books must be read in place of one more demanding book. Your teacher must approve all book choice.

Diana Abu-Jaber (1960- ), writer-in-residence at Portland State University, has a Jordanian father and American mother. She is known for her fiction and nonfiction. See http://www.dianaabujaber.com/. Origin; Crescent; The Language of Baklava; Arabian Jazz

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), the daughter of a transcendental philosopher and an independent-minded woman, is most famous for her Little Women, now an American classic. She enjoyed a career as a writer at a time when women were not encouraged to do so. See http://www.louisamayalcott.org/ and http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/lma.htm. Little Women; Little Men; Old Fashioned Girl; Jo’s Boys; Inheritance; Eight Cousins; Louisa May Alcott’s Hospital Sketches; Rose in Bloom; Long Fatal Love Chase; Good Wives; Work: A Story of Experience

Sherman Alexie (1966- ) grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. His father is Coeur d’Alene, and his mother is Spokane. For more, see his official biography at http://www.fallsapart.com/biography.html. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven; Ten Little Indians; Reservation Blues; The Toughest Indian in the World; The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems; One Stick Song; Smoke Signals: The Screenplay

Dorothy Allison (1949 - ), the first child of a fifteen-year-old unwed mother who dropped out of the seventh grade to work as a waitress, was raised in extreme poverty by her mother's family and remembers "hiding out under the porch" so she could listen to her grandmother and aunt tell stories. Her childhood was scarred from the time she was five to eleven years old, when she was often beaten and raped by her abusive stepfather. (Bedford/St. Martin’s Press) See http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/contemporary/allison_do.html, a page posted by Houghton Mifflin. Bastard Out of Carolina; Two or Three Things I Know for Sure; Cavedweller; Trash; Skin: Talking about Sex, Class, and Literature

Julia Alvarez (1950- ) emigrated with her family at the age of 10 from the Dominican Republic. She is currently a writer in residence at Middlebury College. For more information, see http://juliaalvarez.com. Before We Were Free; In the Time of the Butterflies; How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent; *Homecoming: New and Collected Poems; Yo!; Something to Declare; How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay; Before We Were Free; *The Other Side

Laurie Halse Anderson ( 1961- ), a former journalist, is a fiction writer for children and teens. Speak was nominated for a National Book Award. See http://www.writerlady.com/. *Speak; *Twisted; *Prom; *Catalyst; *Fever 1793; and numerous children’s books

M. T. Anderson (1968- ), a graduate of Harvard, Cambridge, and Syracuse, won the National Book Award in 2006 for Octavian Nothing. He is a writer of children’s illustrated books and of books for middle readers and teens. See http://www.candlewick.com/authill.asp?b=author&m=bio&id=2150&pix=n. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party; Thirsty; Feed; Burger Wuss; and numerous children’s books

Maya Angelou (1928- ) (born Marguerite Johnson) was raised by her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Despite her difficult childhood, she is a renowned actress, dancer, singer, poet, memoirist, and teacher. See http://www.mayaangelou.com/. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Heart of a Woman; Gather Together in My Name; Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas; Poems; All God’s Children Got Travelin’ Shoes

Margaret Atwood (1939- ), a Canadian writer, has taught at the university level as well as published poetry, fiction, scripts, and children’s literature. For more, see her site at http://www.owtoad.com. The Handmaid’s Tale; Alias Grace; The Blind Assassin; Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing

Avi (1937 - ) is a prolific writer for children and young adults, ranging across genres and styles from historical fiction to fantasy to mystery to humor. His personal website can be found at http://www.avi-writer.com/index.html. *Nothing But the Truth; *Blue Heron; *Wolf Rider; *Sometimes I Think I Hear My Name; *The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle; *The Man Who Was Poe; *The Secret School; *City of Light, City of Dark;*numerous children’s books

James Baldwin (1924-1987) – poet, novelist, playwright, essayist – was one of the most powerful and influential of African American authors whose work helped those of other races understand the plight of people of color under Jim Crow laws. For more information, see the entry for him at http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/baldwin.asp. Go Tell It on the Mountain; The Fire the Next Time; Notes of a Native Son; If Beale Street Could Talk; Blues for Mister Charlie

Russell Banks (1941- ), poet, essayist, and fiction writer, has also held a number of blue-collar jobs and has taught at prestigious American universities. For more information, see http://www.barclayagency.com/banks.html. Rule of the Bone; The Sweet Hereafter; Continental Drift; The Angel on the Roof; Cloudsplitter; Affliction

Richard Bausch, professor of creative writing at the University of Memphis, has won numerous awards for his nine novels and numerous short stories. An interview in The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42949-2003Nov14.html) provides a good introduction to the writer and his work. Take Me Back; In the Night Season; Hello to the Cannibals; The Last Good Time; The Stories of Richard Bausch

Wendell Berry (1934- ), a professor, environmentalist, social activist, and farmer in Kentucky, celebrates the land and the people who work it in his essays, novels, stories, and poems. See http://www.english.eku.edu/SERVICES/KYLIT/BERRY.HTM. The Memory of Old Jack; Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982; Jayber Crow; What Are People For?; The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry; The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture; and many others

Ray Bradbury (1920- ) – a truly prolific writer of poems, stories, novels, and scripts – is one of the most respected American writers of science fiction. For more, see http://www.raybradbury.com/bio.html. Fahrenheit 451; Something Wicked This Way Comes; The Martian Chronicles; Dandelion Wine; From the Dust Returned; The Illustrated Man; The Golden Apples of the Sun; and many others

Bruce Brooks (1950 - ) has written for newspapers and magazines on a number of different subjects, including his own hobbies – reading, sports, nature study, and music. See http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-brooks-bruce.asp. *The Moves Make the Man; *Boys Will Be; *Vanishing; *Asylum for a Night Face; *Midnight Hour Encores; *What Hearts

Bill Bryson (1951- ), an American-born writer, has lived in England much of his adult life. Known for his nonfiction books on subjects ranging from the English language to the Appalachian trail, his writing is marked by his strong sense of humor. See http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/home.html and http://www.powells.com/authors/bryson.html. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America; A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalchian Trail; I’m a Stranger Here Myself; A Short History of Nearly Everything; In a Sunburned Country; The Mother Tongue; Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Octavia Butler (1947-2006), a native Californian, overcame dyslexia and began writing at 10. She is the first African-American woman to achieve popularity and critical acclaim as a science fiction writer. See http://www.sfwa.org/members/butler/. Kindred; the Patternist series; Bloodchild and Other Stories; Lilith’s Brood; Parable of the Talents

Truman Capote (1924-1984) (the model for Dill in his childhood friend’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird) was a masterful prose stylist whose works ranged from the personal and sentimental ("A Christmas Memory") to the researched and graphic (In Cold Blood). For more, see http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/capote_t.html. In Cold Blood; Breakfast at Tiffany’s; A Christmas Memory, One Christmas and A Thanksgiving Visitor; The Grass Harp; Other Voices, Other Rooms

Orson Scott Card (1954 - ) is a science fiction and fantasy writer, who has won the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards. His official website offers much information about his work. See http://www.hatrack.com/osc/about.shtml. Ender’s Game; Speaker for the Dead; Ender’s Shadow; Lost Boys; Treasure Box; Homebody; the homecoming saga; American fantasy series

Raymond Carver (1938-1988) was born into a working-class family in Oregon. By the time he died at 50 from lung cancer, he had published ten works of poetry and prose known for its portraits of America’s underclass. For more, see http://partners.nytimes.com/books/01/01/21/specials/carver-obit.html. Where I’m Calling From; Short Cuts; All of Us: The Collected Poems; Call If You Need Me; Cathedral

Willa Cather (1873-1947) was born in Virginia and moved with her family to Nebraska at the age of 10. Her poetry, stories, essays, and novels celebrate the people of the Great Plains. See http://www.willacather.org/aboutcather_bio.html. My Antonia; Death Comes for the Archbishop; O, Pioneers!; The Song of the Lark; The Professor’s House

Michael Chabon (1964- ) claims comic books were his passion in childhood. His own fiction has some of the same characteristics, including superheroes and supervillains. See http://www.barclayagency.com/chabon.html and http://www.michaelchabon.com/. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay; Summerland; Yiddish Policemen’s Union; *The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist Comic Book #1; Wonder Boys; The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; A Model World and Other Stories; *The Final Solution: A Story of Detection; Werewolves in Their Youth: Stories

Carolyn Chute (1947- ) is a Maine writer whose works feature local characters who, like her, been poor. See http://mostlyfiction.com/contemp/chute.htm. The Beans of Egypt, Maine; Merry Men; Letourneau’s Used Auto Parts; Snow Man; Up River

Sandra Cisneros (1954 - ). See http://www.sandracisneros.com/. The House on Mango Street; *My Wicked, Wicked Ways; *The Rodrigo Poems; Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories; Caramelo; Bad Boys; *Loose Woman: Poems; *Hairs: Pelitos

Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952- ), a University of Georgia professor of creative writing, is a writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, informed by her Puerto Rican-American heritage. See http://www.english.uga.edu/~jcofer/. The Meaning of Consuelo; An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio; The Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry; The Line of the Sun; Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood

Pat Conroy (1945- ), a military brat and graduate of The Citadel who lives in South Carolina, has used aspects of his own life in his page-turning fiction. See http://www.patconroy.com/. My Losing Season; The Prince of Tides; The Great Santini; The Lords of Discipline; The Water Is Wide; Beach Music

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) of Cooperstown, New York (founded by his father), was an early American writer who focused on American settings and characters, especially in his Leatherstocking Tales, a series of books. See http://cooper.classicauthors.net/index.html. The Pioneers; The Last of the Mohicans; The Prairie; The Pathfinder; The Deerslayer

Robert Cormier (1925-2000) spent his life in Leominster, Massachusetts, the model for the setting of many of his novels. A journalist for thirty years, he was one of the first to write in the genre that is now known as young adult literature. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cormier. The Chocolate War; After the First Death; I Am the Cheese; The Bumblebee Flies Anyway; A Faith That Makes Sense: Reflections for Peace, Purpose and Joy; I Have Words to Spend: Confessions of a Small-Town Editor

Dennis Covington (1948- ), Alabama native and a professor of creative writing in Alabama, has written nonfiction, young adult fiction, and memoir and has worked as a war journalist. See http://www.alabamabound.org/AuthorPages/CovingtonDennis.htm. Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia; Cleaving: The Story of a Marriage; Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of the American Dream; Lasso the Moon; Lizard

Stephen Crane (1871-1900), a literary realist, wrote one of the first psychological novels (The Red Badge of Courage). He was also a journalist, short story writer, and poet. See http://crane.classicauthors.net/index.html. The Red Badge of Courage; Maggie: A Girl of the Streets; The Complete Poems of Stephen Crane; Great Short Works of Stephen Crane; The Portable Stephen Crane

Chris Crutcher (1946 - ), a family therapist who lives in Spokane, Washington, has written a number of short stories and novels influenced by his work. He maintains a comprehensive website, which can be found at http://www.chriscrutcher.com. *Stotan!; *Chinese Handcuffs; *Crazy Horse Electric Game; *Ironman; *Running Loose; *Athletic Shorts; *Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes; *King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography

Annie Dillard (1945- ), educated at Hollins College, won the Pulitzer Prize for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek when she was only 29. Recognized as one of the great nonfiction writers, Dillard has written extensively about spiritual values and nature in the tradition of Thoreau. See http://www.anniedillard.com/. An American Childhood; Pilgrim at Tinker Creek; The Writing Life; Teaching a Stone to Talk; Holy the Firm; Mornings Like This; The Living; The Maytrees

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (1957- ), born in India, emigrated to the United States at 19. She has earned a Ph.D. and won many awards for her novels and poetry. See http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/about/background/. Sister of My Heart; The Mistress of Spices; The Vine of Desire; Arranged Marriage: Stories; The Unknown Errors of Our Lives; Black Candle: Poems about Women from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; Leaving Yuba City: New and Selected Poems

E. L. Doctorow (1931- ), a college professor, is known for his historical novels about great moments in America’s past. See http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/05/specials/doctorow.html#news and http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/doctorow.html. The March; Ragtime; Sweet Land Stories; City of God; The Book of Daniel; Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom; World’s Fair; Billy Bathgate; Waterworks; and others

Michael Dorris (1945-1997), a descendent of the Modoc tribe, was a Dartmouth professor known also for his sensitive novels and young adult/children’s literature. Probably his best-know work is The Broken Cord, detailing his adoption of a boy affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. See http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A32. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water; The Broken Cord: A Family’s Ongoing Struggle with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; Cloud Chamber; Crown of Columbus; *Morning Girl; *Sees Behind the Trees; *Guests

Ellen Douglas (1921- ) has written a number of short stories and novels set in a fictional Mississippi county called Homochito. A Mississippi native whose real name is Josephine Ayres Haxton, Douglas explores traditional southern themes in her work. See http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/narrative/narrative1.html. Can’t Quit You, Baby; Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell; Apostles of Light; A Family’s Affairs; The Rock Cried Out; Black Cloud, White Cloud; Lifetime Burning; Conversations with Ellen Douglas

Clyde Edgerton (1944- ), raised in rural North Carolina, writes about the kinds of folks he knows best in a humorous and loving manner. See http://www.clydeedgerton.com/about.htm. Walking Across Egypt; Raney; The Floatplane Notebooks; Killer Diller; Where Trouble Sleeps; In Memory of Junior; Lunch at the Piccadilly

Gretel Ehrlich (1946- ) is a nature writer, essayist, poet, and novelist who lived on a remote Wyoming ranch until she was struck by lightning. See her website at http://www.identitytheory.com/people/birnbaum33.html. The Solace of Open Spaces; A Match to the Heart; Heart Mountain; The Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland; John Muir: Nature’s Visionary; Questions of Heaven: The Chinese Journeys of an American Buddhist; Islands, the Universe, Home; Drinking Dry Clouds; A Blizzard Year (children’s book)

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was one of the great nonfiction writers of the nineteenth century. His writing reflects his Transcendentalist beliefs in the mystical powers of nature. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/em/Emerson.html. Self-reliance and Other Essays; Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays and Lectures; Ralph Waldo Emerson: Collected Poems and Translations

Louise Erdrich (1954-), of mixed heritage but a member of the Turtle Mountain Clan of the Chippewa, has written a series of novels in which characters from the same Native American families appear. See http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/erdrich/erdrich.htm. The Master Butchers Singing Club; Love Medicine; The Beet Queen; Tracks; The Bingo Palace; Tales of Burning Love; Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse; *The Birchbark House; The Blue Jay’s Dance: A Birth Year; Four Souls; The Painted Drum

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) wrote about America during the Jazz Age, the 1920s, and is considered one of the great writers of this century. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/fi/FitzgS.html. The Great Gatsby; Tender Is the Night; This Side of Paradise; The Beautiful and Damned; The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fannie Flagg (1944 - ), a native of Birmingham, Alabama, began her career as a stand-up comedian. After working for a number of years as an actress on TV and film, she began writing fiction characterized by her unique southern sensibility and humor. See http://www.randomhouse.com/features/fannieflagg/. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café; Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven; Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man; Welcome to the World, Baby Girl; Standing in the Rainbow; A Redbird Christmas

Paul Fleischman (1947 - ), the son of Sid Fleischman, a famous children’s author, is a musician and sculptor (from found objects) as well as a fiction writer and poet. For more information, see http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-fleischman-paul.asp. *Seedfolks; *Dateline: Troy; *Seek; *Breakout; *A Fate Totally Worse Than Death; *Borning Room; *Joyful Noise; *Mind’s Eye; *Whirligig; *Cannibal in the Mirror; numerous others

Richard Ford (1944- ), a native Mississippian, is known for his stories and novels about disconnected male protagonists. See http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/Ford.html. The Sportswriter; Independence Day; A Multitude of Sins; Rock Springs; A Piece of My Heart; Wildlife

Paula Fox (1923- ), a well-known and highly respected children’s writer, has also written for adults. See http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,981640,00.html. Desperate Characters (a novel for adults); The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe; Servant’s Tale (novel for adults); Borrowed Finery: A Memoir; *The Slave Dancer; *Monkey Island; *One-Eyed Cat; *Blowfish Live in the Sea; God of Nightmares (adult novel); *The Moonlight Man; many others

Ernest J. Gaines (1933- ), a native of rural Louisiana, is a writer-in-residence at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. His moving novels celebrate the strength of characters in overcoming adversity. See http://aalbc.com/authors/ernest.htm. A Lesson Before Dying; A Gathering of Old Men; The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman; Bloodline; Catherine Carmier; In My Father’s House; Of Love and Dust

Kaye Gibbons (1960- ), a writer from North Carolina, burst onto the literary scene with her first book, Ellen Foster, which captures beautifully the voice of a child living in an abusive home. At times funny and at others tragic, her writing always entertains. See http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/gibbons/gibbons.html. Ellen Foster; The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster; A Virtuous Woman; Charms for the Easy Life; On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon; A Cure for Dreams; Divining Women; Sights Unseen

Ellen Gilchrist (1935- ), although a Mississippian, does a better job than anyone at capturing the quirkiness of New Orleans and its characters in her stories and novels. See http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/gilchrist_ellen/index.html. The Anna Papers; The Annunciation; Drunk with Love; Falling through Space: The Journals of Ellen Gilchrist; Flights of Angels; I Cannot Get You Close Enough; In the Land of Dreamy Dreams

Gail Godwin (1937- ), who grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, is an acclaimed novelist and short story writer as well as college teacher of literature. See http://www.gailgodwin.com/. A Mother and Two Daughters; The Finishing School; A Southern Family; Father Melancholy’s Daughter; The Good Husband; Evensong; The Making of a Writer: Journals, 1961-1963; Queen of the Underworld; and others

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), one of the first great American authors, composed stories and novels characterized by allegory, symbolism, and psychological realism. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/ha/HawthornN.html. The Scarlet Letter; The House of the Seven Gables; Nathaniel Hawthorne: Tales and Sketches; The Blithedale Romance; The Marble Faun

Joseph Heller (1923-1999), a native New Yorker, served as a bombadier during World War II, an experience that inspired in his most famous work, Catch-22. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Heller. Catch-22; Closing Time; Something Happened; Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man; Now and Then; God Knows

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) volunteered as an ambulance driver in World War I, reported on the Spanish Civil War, and fought in World War II. A "man’s man," Hemingway wrote stories and novels in a style famous the world over for its directness. See http://www.ernest.hemingway.com/. A Farewell to Arms; The Sun Also Rises; The Old Man and the Sea; For Whom the Bell Tolls; The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories; To Have and Have Not

Karen Hesse (1952 - ) just won a prestigious MacArthur Grant, known as the "genius grant," for her outstanding work in young adult literature. *Witness; *Stowaway; *Letters from Rifka; *The Music of Dolphins; *Out of the Dust; *A Time of Angels; *Phoenix Rising; *Aleutian Sparrow; many others

Carl Hiassen (1953- ), a Floridian, writes comic novels for adults and young readers. He is also a columnist for The Miami Herald. As quoted on his web site, Louise Berkow , in a Cosmopolitan article, "describes Hiaasen’s fiction as ‘unbelievably funny -- tears-running-down-your-cheeks funny in spite of some pretty weighty themes like the destruction of the environment.’" See his official website at http://www.carlhiaasen.com/.  *Hoot (a children’s novel); *Flush; Skinny Dip; Tourist Season; Skin Tight; Basket Case; Lucky You; Paradise Screwed: Selected Columns; Sick Puppy; and others

Oscar Hijuelos (1951- ) was born in New York to parents who emigrated from Cuba. Formerly employed in advertising, Hijuelos is the first Hispanic American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize. See http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?userid=17LER3D7WH&cid=281816#bio. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love; A Simple Habana Melody (from When the World Was Good); Empress of the Splendid Season; Mr. Ives’ Christmas; The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien

Tony Hillerman (1925 - ), a native of Oklahoma, attended Native American schools. For many years, he worked as a journalist and is well known today for his mysteries featuring Native American police. See http://www.tonyhillermanbooks.com/. Skinwalkers; A Thief of Time; Talking God; Coyote Waits; The Waiting Wind; Hunting Badger; Sacred Clowns; and others

Alice Hoffman (1952- ) is a prolific writer whose novel At Risk was one of the first to deal with the subject of AIDS. She has written for teens and adults and has co-written a picture book with her son. See http://www.alicehoffman.com/. Blackbird House; The Probable Future; The River King; Green Angel; Practical Magic; Illumination Night; *Indigo; Here on Earth; Turtle Moon; At Risk; Seventh Heaven; and others

Kimberly Willis Holt (1948- ) is an award-winning children’s/young adult author. She maintains her own website at http://www.kimberlywillisholt.com/index.html. *Keeper of the Night; *Dancing in Cadillac Light; *When Zachary Beaver Came to Town; *My Louisiana Sky; *Mister and Me; *Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), one of the most popular writers of the Harlem Renaissance, captured the spirit of Black America for a wide audience at the time of Jim Crow. In poems, plays, stories, and novels, he celebrated the strength of the human spirit. See http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/hughes.htm. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes; Short Stories of Langston Hughes; Ways of White Folks; The Big Sea: An Autobiography; Best of Simple; The Return of Simple; Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), a member of the Harlem Renaissance, collected and published African American folk tales and songs after she earned a Ph.D. in folklore from Columbia University. Her own novels reflect that same culture. See http://www.zoranealehurston.com/. Their Eyes Were Watching God; Dust Tracks on the Road: An Autobiography; Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Moses, Man of the Mountain; Mules and Man; Complete Stories

John Irving (1942- ) is a popular contemporary novelist known for his eccentric characters, several of which have been made into movies. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/ir/Irving-J.html. A Prayer for Owen Meany; The World According to Garp; The Cider House Rules; The Hotel New Hampshire; The Fourth Hand

Gish Jen (1956- ), a native New Yorker of Chinese heritage, writes humorously about the immigrant experience. See http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/jen_gish.html. In the American Society; Typical American; Mona in the Promised Land; Who’s Irish?; The Love Wife; and a number of short stories

Diane Johnson (1934- ) now divides her time between San Francisco and France, about which she has recently written in a series of social comedies. See http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/diane_johnson.html. Le Divorce; Le Mariage; L’Affaire; The Shadow Knows; Burning; Persian Nights; Health and Happiness; Lying Low

Ken Kesey ( 1935-2001 ), a Beat generation author who formed "The Merry Pranksters," is probably best known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a darkly comic novel that the New York Times called "a parable of good and evil." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey and http://intrepidtrips.com/. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Sailor Song; Sometimes a Great Notion; Kesey’s Jail Journal; Demon Box: Short Stories

Jamaica Kincaid (1949- ), born in Antigua, moved to New York at 17 in order to escape her confining island home. She has written on subjects as diverse as her brother’s death from AIDS, her garden, and the cruel effects of British Colonialism. See http://www.postcolonialweb.org/caribbean/kincaid/kincaidov.html. *A Small Place; The Autobiography of My Mother; Mr. Potter; My Garden; Lucy; My Brother; *At the Bottom of the River; *Annie John; My Garden Book

Barbara Kingsolver (1955- ), a rural Kentuckian, studied biology and ecology, subjects which appear in her novels, essays, stories, and poems. While her work is often political in nature, it also provides enjoyable reading. See http://www.kingsolver.com/about/about.asp. The Poisonwood Bible; The Bean Trees; Pigs in Heaven; Animal Dreams; Prodigal Summer; High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never; Another America; Homeland and Other Stories; Small Wonder: Essays; Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life

Anne Lamott (1954- ) is best decribed by her own agency: "Anne Lamott writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor—she is laugh out-loud funny—and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment." See http://www.powells.com/authors/lamott.html. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life; Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith; Joe Jones: A Novel; Blue Shoe; Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year; Hard Laughter; Crooked Little Heart; All New People; Rosie; Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Madeleine L’Engle (1918- ) has served as the librarian at New York’s Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Among her many publications are popular works of science fiction for young readers and memoirs for older ones. See http://www.madeleinelengle.com/. A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; Many Waters; Madeleine L’Engle: Reflections on a Writing Life; A Circle of Quiet: A Crosswicks Journal; Two-Part Invention: A Crosswicks Journal

Robert Lipsyte (1938- ) – a former sports reporter, newspaper columnist, and network correspondent – is probably best known as a young adult writer, although he has also published for adults. See http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/2001awardwinner.htm. The Contender; One Fat Summer; The Brave; The Chief; Warrior Angel; and others

Jack London (1876-1916), an adventurer and journalist, wrote some of the most exciting outdoors tales in American literature. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/lo/London-J.html. *Call of the Wild; White Fang; The Sea-Wolf; To Build a Fire and Other Stories; Martin Eden

Barry Lopez (1945- ), a former landscape photographer, is one of America’s greatest nonfiction nature writers. See his agency website at http://www.barclayagency.com/lopez.html. Arctic Dreams; Of Wolves and Men; About This Life; Field Notes (fiction); Winter Count (fiction); Of Crow and Weasel; Resistance; Crossing Open Ground

Paule Marshall (1929- ) was born in New York to parents who had emigrated from Barbados. Much of her work centers on Caribbean-American families as a result. See http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/marshall_paule.html or http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Marshall.html. Reena and Other Stories; Praisesong for the Widow; Brown Girl, Brownstones; Soul Clap Hands and Sing; The Chosen Place, The Timeless People; Daughters

Bobbie Ann Mason (1942- ), who grew up on a farm in Kentucky, is a professor of English at the University of Kentucky. At the center of her stories and novels are the working-class people of her home state. She has also written a memoir, Cool Springs. See http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/09/specials/mason.html. In Country; Clear Springs: A Memoir; Shiloh and Other Stories; Feather Crowns; Zigzagging Down a Wild Trail; Midnight Magic; The Girl Sleuth; *Elvis Presley: A Penguin Life

Peter Matthiessen (1927- ), a native of New York City, has written numerous novels, short stories, and nonfiction works, many dealing with exotic locations and cultures. See http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/catalog/results_author.pperl?authorid=19462. At Play in the Fields of the Lord; Snow Leopard; Bone by Bone; In the Spirit of Crazy Horse; Killing Mr. Watson; Lost Man’s River; Tigers in the Snow; The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes; and others

Cormac McCarthy (1933- ) was raised in Knoxville and attended the University of Tennessee. Although he had been writing and publishing for thirty years, McCarthy received his first critical success with All the Pretty Horses. See http://www.cormacmccarthy.com. The Road; All the Pretty Horses; No Country for Old Men; The Crossing; Cities of the Plain; Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West; Child of God

Jill McCorkle (1958- ), born in Lumberton, North Carolina, is a professor of creative writing at Bennington College. For a description of her entertaining novels, see http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=19750. Ferris Beach; Carolina Moon; Crash Diet: Stories; Final Vinyl Days and Other Stories; Tending to Virginia; The Cheer Leader; July 7th; Creatures of Habit

Sharyn McCrumb (1948- ), an Appalachian native, celebrates her native region in her fiction. She is a writer of historical novels, primarily, though she has also written satirical and comic novels. See http://www.sharynmccrumb.com/index.html. The Ballad Novels include Ghost Riders, The Songcatcher, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, The Rosewood Casket, She Walks These Hills, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O; others include Once Around the Track; St. Dale

Carson McCullers (1917-1967), a native Georgian who suffered from ill health throughout her life, created an odd collection of eccentric characters suffering from loneliness and alienation. See http://www.gawomen.org/honorees/long/mccullersc_long.htm. The Member of the Wedding; The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories; Reflections in a Golden Eye; Clock Without Hands

Alice McDermott (1953- ), writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has won The National Book Award (for Charming Billy) and has been nominated for The Pulitzer Prize (for Weddings and Wakes and for That Night). See http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/octdec98/dec0798/07alice.html. Child of My Heart; Charming Billy; The Bigamist’s Daughter; That Night; Weddings and Wakes; After This

Larry McMurtry (1936- ) is a southwest native who has written several popular novels that have been adapted to the screen. See http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?userid=17LER3D7WH&cid=701973#bio. The Last Picture Show; Lonesome Dove; Sin Killer; Sacagawea’s Nickname: Essays on the American West; Comanche Walk; Streets of Laredo; Leaving Cheyenne; Terms of Endearment

N. Scott Momaday (1934- ), a Kiowa, earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for House Made of Dawn. His stories derive from Native American oral traditions. See http://www.buffalotrust.org/scott.htm. House Made of Dawn; *The Way to Rainy Mountain; The Names: A Memoir; *In the Bear’s House; The Ancient Child; In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991; *Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story

Kyoko Mori (1957 - ), born in Japan, emigrated to the United States when she entered college and is today a professor in Minnesota. She is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. Her fiction has been suggested by events in her own life, especially by her mother’s suicide. *Shizuko’s Daughter; The Dream of Water; *Fallout; *One Bird; Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Two Cultures; Stone Field, True Arrow

Toni Morrison (1931- ), a Princeton professor and former editor at Random House, is the first Black woman to earn the Nobel Prize for Literature. She has said that she writes literature for fellow African Americans, though Americans of all cultural backgrounds have found her novels riveting. See http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/morrison_toni.html. Love; Beloved; The Bluest Eye; Sula; Song of Solomon; Jazz; Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination; Tar Baby

Farley Mowat (1921- ) is a Canadian naturalist and author whose works combine fact and fiction in often amusing and fascinating ways. His memoir, Born Naked, begins with a truly funny scene – that of his conception. See http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005502. Never Cry Wolf; Born Naked: A Memoir; High Latitudes: A Journey Across the Arctic; Woman in the Mists: The Story of Dian Fossey and the Mountain Gorillas of Africa; The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be; Working on the Land; Sea of Slaughter; *Owls in the Family

Walter Dean Myers (1937 - ), a native of Virginia, spent most of his youth in Harlem. Since 1969, he has been a full-time writer of works for children and young adults. *Monster; *Somewhere in the Darkness; Shooter; *Won’t Know Till I Get There; *Scorpions; Fallen Angels; Hoops; Bad Boy: A Memoir; Slam!; Hoops; *Street Love; *145th Street: Short Stories; *What They Found: Love on 145th Street; and others

Gloria Naylor (1950- ), a feminist African American author, credits Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye with spurring her to write. As is true of Louise Erdrich’s novels, hers are linked through recurring characters. See http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/naylor_gloria.html. Mama Day; The Woman of Brewster Place; Bailey’s Café; Linden Hills; Men of Brewster Place

Naomi Shihab Nye (1952- ) is a Palestinian-American poet, anthologist, novelist, songwriter, and essayist whose enthusiasm for life and love of all people infuse her works with joy. See http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/174. *Habibi; I’ll Ask You Three Times, Are You OK?: Tales of Driving and Being Driven; You and Yours; Going Going; Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places; *Red Suitcase: Poems; *19 Varieties of Gazelle: *Poems of the Middle East; The Words Under the Words; *Fuel; *Come with Me: Poems for a Journey; *Mint Snowball; *What Have You Lost?; *Baby Radar; Different Ways to Pray: Poems; Yellow Glove

Tim O’Brien (1946- ), a Vietnam vet, has blurred the lines between fiction and nonfiction in his novels based on his and others’ experiences in Vietnam and in the States after serving there. See http://people.mnhs.org/authors/biog_detail.cfm?PersonID=O'Br306. The Things They Carried; Going After Cacciato; In the Lake of the Woods; If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home; Northern Lights; Tomcat in Love

Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), a Georgian with a fondness for truly strange characters, has written stories and novels that are both outrageously funny and truly discomfiting at the same time. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/oc/OCnnrFl.html. Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works (Wise Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Violent Bear It Away, Everything That Rises Must Converge, Essays and Letters)

Ann Patchett (1963- ), a Nashvillian with a degree from the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop, has published four novels (the latest about a terrorist incident) and has garnered much recognition. See http://www.annpatchett.com. The Patron Saint of Liars; Taft; The Magician’s Assistant; Bel Canto; Run; Truth and Beauty: A Friendship (nonfiction)

Gary Paulsen (1939- ) – woodsman, artist, adventurer – has used his varied life experiences as the sources of his novels, nonfiction books, stories, and articles, which number in the hundreds. See http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/about.html. *The Glass Café: Or the Stripper and the State: How My Mother Started a War with the System That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous; *Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day; *The Winter Room; *Soldier’s Heart; Eastern Sun, Western Moon: An Autobiographical Odyssey; *Harris and Me; Hatchet; *The Island; *My Life in Dog Years; Winterdance; *NightJohn; *Woodsong; *Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass; *Guts: The True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian Books; *Zero to Sixty: The Motorcycle Journey of a Lifetime; Father Water, Mother Woods: Essays on Fishing and Hunting in the North Woods; *The Rifle; many others

Chaim Potok (1929-2002), who recently died, wrote novels about the Jewish experience that showed the conflict between spiritual and secular worlds. See http://potok.lasierra.edu/. The Chosen; My Name Is Asher Lev; Old Men at Midnight; The Promise; The Gift of Asher Lev; Davita’s Harp

Reynolds Price (1933- ), a Duke professor, has published in many genres, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. He has recently been inspired to write about religion because of his own illness. See http://www.goucher.edu/cwpromo/kratz/ReynoldsPrice.htm. Kate Vaiden; Feasting the Heart: Fifty-two Commentaries for the Air; A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing; Blue Calhoun; Clear Pictures: First Loves, First Guides; The Collected Poems; The Collected Stories; and others

Anna Quindlen (1953- ), former Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The New York Times, is currently writing for Newsweek as well as publishing novels and nonfiction. See http://www.randomhouse.com/features/aquindlen/. One True Thing; Rise and Shine; Black and Blue; How Reading Changed My Life; Thinking Out Loud: On the Personal, the Public and the Private; Living Out Loud; Object Lessons; A Short Guide to a Happy Life; Blessings; Loud and Clear

J. D. Salinger (1919-2001) has made parents uncomfortable for a half century since his American classic, Catcher in the Rye, was published in 1951. See http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/10/08/specials/salinger.html. Catcher in the Rye; Franny and Zooey; Nine Stories; Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour

Ferrol Sams (1922- ) is, first, a physician but also a teacher of creative writing and a noted author. See http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1237. Run with the Horseman; Epiphany: Stories; When All the World Was Young; Widow’s Mite and Other Stories; The Passing Stories; The Whisper of the River

William Saroyan (1908-1981) was a California writer whose works were sentimental and uplifting. He wrote plays, novels, stories, and memoir. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/sa/Saroyan.html. The Human Comedy; The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and Other Stories; Boys and Girls Together; Here Comes, There Goes, You Know Who; Man with the Heart in the Highlands and Other Early Stories

Leslie Marmon Silko (1948- ), a native of New Mexico, is of mixed blood descent, though she was raised on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. Her memoir, essays, stories, and novels include magical elements of Native American spirituality. See http://literati.net/Silko/. Ceremony; Storyteller; Almanac of the Dead; Yellow Woman; Gardens in the Dunes; Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit: Essays

Lee Smith (1944- ) was born in a coal-mining town in Virginia and was a classmate of Annie Dillard’s at Hollins College. Her novels are about the same kinds of folks she grew up with. See http://www.leesmith.com. On Agate Hill; Fair and Tender Ladies; Oral History; The Devil’s Dream; Saving Grace; Black Mountain Breakdown; News of the Spirit; Last Girls

Gary Soto (1952- ), a Hispanic American writer who lives in California, is a poet, children’s book author, and novelist whose works have been especially appealing to young adults. See http://www.garysoto.com/index.html. Amnesia in a Republican County; *Buried Onions; Gary Soto: New and Selected Poems; *A Summer Life; *Jesse; *Baseball in April and Other Stories; The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy: Recollections and Short Essays; *Junior College: Poems; *A Natural Man: Poems; Nickel and Dime; *Taking Sides; *Living Up the Street; The Afterlife

John Steinbeck (1902-1968), one of America’s most famous writers, wrote about ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/st/Steinbec.html. Of Mice and Men; The Grapes of Wrath; East of Eden; Cannery Row; Travels with Charley; The Pearl; The Red Pony

William Styron (1925- ), a Virginian, is known for his epic historical fiction. He has also published a widely read memoir chronicling his battle with depression (Darkness Visible). See http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/styron_w.html. Sophie’s Choice; The Confessions of Nat Turner; Lie Down in Darkness; Darkness Visible; A Tidewater Morning: Three Tales from Youth

Amy Tan (1952- ), a Chinese American author from California, is a fiction writer concerned with the challenges faced by those, like she, who move between two cultures. See http://www.amytan.net/. The Joy Luck Club; The Bonesetter’s Daughter; The Kitchen God’s Wife; The Hundred Secret Senses; Saving Fish from Drowning; The Opposite of Faith: A Book of Musings

Mildred D. Taylor (1943 - ) joined the Peace Corps after graduating from college and spent two years teaching English and history in Ethiopia. Strongly influenced by the 1960s movement in Black Pride, Taylor moved beyond journalism to fiction. See http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/taylor_mildred/.  *Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; *The Friendship; *Let the Circle Be Unbroken; *Song of the Trees; *The Well; Mississippi Bridge; *The Gold Cadillac; *The Road to Memphis; *The Land

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), America’s first great environmentalist, was a member of the Transcendental circle of writers in Concord, Massachusetts. http://www.bartleby.com/65/th/Thoreau.html. Walden, or Life in the Woods; The Maine Woods; A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; Cape Cod; Henry David Thoreau: Collected Essays and Poems

James Thurber (1927-1961), a cartoonist and author, had a long career with The New Yorker magazine. His fables, stories, plays, essays, and children’s books should amuse any reader. See http://www.thurberhouse.org. James Thurber: Writings and Drawings

Mark Twain (1825-1910) is probably the most famous American literary satirist. The native of Missouri introduced American dialect to literary fiction, a startling innovation in his day. See http://www.bartleby.com/people/Twain-Ma.html. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Life on the Mississippi; Puddnhead Wilson; The Prince and the Pauper; The Innocents Abroad; The Complete Short Stories; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

John Updike (1932- ) is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, a novelist, and a poet known for his portraits of upper middle class suburbanites. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/up/Updike-J.html. Rabbit Run; Gertrude and Claudius; Self Consciousness; Collected Poems 1953-1993; The Complete Short Fiction; The Witches of Eastwick

Cynthia Voigt (1942 - ), a former high school teacher, has been a full-time writer for the last two decades. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Voigt.  *Homecoming; *Dicey’s Song; *A Solitary Blue; *Sons from Afar; *The Runner; *Come a Stranger; *Seventeen Against the Dealer; *Elske; *Izzy, Willy-Nilly; *Orfe; *When She Hollers; *Jackaroo; Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do?

Kurt Vonnegut (1922- ) is an experimental author whose works are sophisticated fantasies about a chaotic world. See http://www.vonnegut.com/artist.asp. Slaughterhouse-Five, Or the Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death; Cat’s Cradle; Breakfast of Champions; God Bless You, Dr. Kervorkian; Welcome to the Monkey House; many others

Alice Walker (1944- ) was born into poverty in rural Georgia to parents who were sharecroppers. A poet, novelist, and essayist, Walker is committed to what she calls a "Womanist" philosophy of equality and respect. See http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/walker_alice.html. The Color Purple; In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens; You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories; *Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful: Poems; In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women; and others

James Welch (1940-2003) was a Native American writer raised on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana. For further information, see http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A7. Fools Crow; Winter in the Blood; The Indian Lawyer; The Heartsong of Charging Elk; Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians

Eudora Welty (1909-2001) spent her entire life in Jackson, Mississippi, in the house where she grew up and wrote stories and novels that reflect her love of regular folks in the South. Her memoir, One Writer’s Beginnings, is an inspiring look at the impulses that influenced her to become a writer. See http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/welty_eudora/. The Optimist’s Daughter; The Robber Bridegroom; Delta Wedding; *One Writer’s Beginnings; The Ponder Heart; The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

Edith Wharton (1862-1937), herself a member of high society, wrote novels about turn-of-the-century New York and its social milieu. See http://www.bartleby.com/65/wh/WhartonE.html. Ethan Frome; House of Mirth; The Age of Innocence; The Custom of the Country; Roman Fever and Other Stories

E. B. White (1899-1985) had a varied writing career as a long-time editor at The New Yorker magazine, children’s book author, and essayist. See http://www.harperchildrens.com/catalog/author_xml.asp?authorID=10499. Elements of Style; *Charlotte’s Web; *Stuart Little; *Here Is New York; *The Trumpet of the Swan; One Man’s Meat; The Second Tree from the Corner; Letters of E. B. White; Essays of E. B. White; Poems and Sketches of E. B. White

Terry Tempest Williams (1955-), descended from Mormon pioneers in Utah, is a naturalist and political activist dedicated to preserving the environment. Her nonfiction is poetic in style and uplifting. See http://www.coyoteclan.com/bio.html. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger: Notes from the Field; Leap; Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert; *Pieces of White Shell; Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams

Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) angered his fellow Ashevillians (North Carolina) when he published his semi-autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. His writing is characterized by his exuberant style, which seems a bit old fashioned today. See http://library.uncwil.edu/wolfe/wolfe.html. Look Homeward, Angel; You Can’t Go Home Again; The Complete Short Stories; The Web and the Rock; Of Time and the River

Tom Wolfe (1931- ), a Virginian with a Ph.D. in American studies, is a careful observer of pop culture who has chronicled the space program, green on Wall Street, and the 60s counter culture in his fiction and nonfiction. See http://www.tomwolfe.com. The Right Stuff; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test; Bonfire of the Vanities; The Painted Word; A Man in Full; The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamlined Baby; The Pump House Gang

Richard Wright (1908-1960), born on a Mississippi plantation, forced Americans to recognize the anger of a people subjugated by racism when he published Native Son in 1940, a disturbing and great American novel. See http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/r_wright/wright_life.htm. Native Son; Black Boy; The Outsider; Uncle Tom’s Children; Eight Men: Short Stories