In 1968, Thomas McGuane (b. 1939) dazzled the literary world with his highly acclaimed debut novel, The Sporting Club. His second work, The Bushwacked Piano, a comic novel, won the Rosenthal Award of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1974, his third novel, Ninety-two in the Shade, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Critics marveled at McGuane's abilities and drew comparisons between him and America's greatest writers.

McGuane has been dubbed -a writer's writer.- He has been praised for his technical luminosity, his savagely comic...

Ann Beattie (b. 1947) published both her first novel (Chilly Scenes of Winter) and her first short story collection (Secrets and Surprises) in 1976. Her prose features ironic wit and a dry, matter-of-fact tone. Political and familial disillusionment are frequent themes. She is, for many, the ideal representative of American realistic fiction from the 1980s and 1990s. She has often been called a minimalist, the -voice of her generation, - and the -quintessential New Yorker fiction writer.-

Conversations with Ann Beattie goes beyond these views to reveal a dynamic...

Conversations with Sonia Sanchez is a diverse collection of engagements with poet, teacher, and activist Sonia Sanchez. While it is common to associate Sanchez with the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, these interviews reveal that Sanchez is a poet whose craft and subjects have evolved over three decades. The interviews from 1979 to 2005 include a previously unpublished interview conducted by the editor specifically for this book. Taken together, the pieces illuminate Sanchez's conscious and consistent work at honing her craft, her skill at raising the highly political to the level...

In 1971, the outlandish originator of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) commandeered the international literary limelight with his best-selling, comic masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Following his 1966 debut Hell's Angels, Thompson displayed an uncanny flair for inserting himself into the epicenter of major sociopolitical events of our generation. His audacious, satirical, ranting screeds on American culture have been widely read and admired. Whether in books, essays, or collections of his correspondence, his raging and incisive voice and writing...

In 1971, the outlandish originator of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) commandeered the international literary limelight with his best-selling, comic masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Following his 1966 debut Hell's Angels, Thompson displayed an uncanny flair for inserting himself into the epicenter of major sociopolitical events of our generation. His audacious, satirical, ranting screeds on American culture have been widely read and admired. Whether in books, essays, or collections of his correspondence, his raging and incisive voice and writing...

Conversations with Ian McEwan collects sixteen interviews, conducted over three decades, with the British author of such highly praised novels as Enduring Love, Atonement, Saturday, and On Chesil Beach. McEwan (b. 1948) discusses his views on authorship, the writing process, and major themes found in his fiction, but he also expands upon his interests in music, film, global politics, the sciences, and the state of literature in contemporary society.

McEwan's candid and forthcoming discussions with notable contemporary writers---Martin Amis, Zadie...

Conversations with Yusef Komunyakaa brings together over two decades of interviews and profiles with one of America's most prolific and acclaimed contemporary poets. Yusef Komunyakaa (b. 1947) describes his work alternately as -word paintings- and as -music, - and his affinity with the visual and aural arts is amply displayed in these conversations. The volume also addresses the diversity and magnitude of Komunyakaa's literary output. His collaborations with artists in a variety of genres, including music, dance, drama, opera, and painting have produced groundbreaking performance...

Paule Marshall (b. 1929) is a major contributor to the canons of African American and Caribbean American literature. In 1959, she published her first novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, and was quickly recognized as a writer of great talent and insight on important questions about gender, race, and immigration in American society. In 1981, the Feminist Press rediscovered her novel and reprinted it, earning Marshall the informal title of grandmother of the renaissance of African American women's writing that emerged in the early 1970s. Over the course of her fifty-year career, Marshall...