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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: novelist

novelist stories: 15 news summaries

 German Novelist 
 Herta Mueller 
 Wins Nobel 
 for Literature 

Romanian-born writer explores themes of exile, dictatorship

Oct 8, 09 6:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded today to Herta Mueller, a Romanian-born German novelist and poet whose work has explored the brutality of life under the Ceausescu dictatorship. Deprived of her job and threatened by the regime, she fled to Germany in 1987. The Land of Green Plums, published... More »

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Germany • literature • novelist • Nobel Prize • Romania • Nobel Prize for Literature • Herta Mueller

INTERVIEW

 Gore Vidal: 
 Hillary Would've 
 Been the Better Prez 

Onetime supporter bashes Obama, who needs more of Lincoln's 'chill'

Sep 30, 09 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Gore Vidal is 83 and uses a wheelchair now, but the legendary American writer hasn't lost any of his strong opinions—not least on Barack Obama, who is doing "dreadfully" and has "fucked up" health reform. Vidal supported Obama after originally backing Hillary Clinton, but now thinks... More »

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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • gay marriage • homosexuality • novelist • author • Gore Vidal • Katharine Hepburn

 Danielle Steel 
 Aide 'Fesses to 
 $400K Ripoff 

Author claims assistant stole $2.7M

Sep 29, 09 6:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - A long-time assistant has pleaded guilty to embezzling $400,000 from best-selling romance queen Danielle Steel. Kristy Watts admitted depositing checks for Steel into her own bank account and using the author's credit card points to obtain gifts and airline tickets. Steel, who has written 76 best-selling novels, claims Watts... More »

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novelist • author • writer • romance • embezzlement • novel • best seller • Danielle Steele

opinion

 Modern Novels' Shift: 
 We Can Understand Them  

Literary writers are re-embracing idea of a good plot

Aug 29, 09 10:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The 21st-century novel is being reacquainted with an old friend: the plot. Today's best writers are abandoning the notion that literary novels need to be all but impenetrable to readers without advanced degrees, writes Lev Grossman in the Wall Street Journal. "The revolution is under way," he says.... More »

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literature • novelist • novel • authors • books

 Biography Bares 
 Lord of the Flies 
 Author's Demons 

Biographer sheds light on unseen memoirs

Aug 16, 09 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - In an unpublished autobiography, the author of Lord of the Flies described his attempted rape of a 15-year-old when he was about 18, the Times of London reports. While walking with the girl, he “felt sure she wanted heavy sex, as this was visibly written on her pert, ripe... More »

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rape • memoir • novelist • autobiography • sexual assault • William Golding

(Newser) - British author JG Ballard died this morning "with great sadness" after many years of poor health, his agent said today. The 78-year-old novelist and short story writer was most famous for his semi-autobiographical book Empire of the Sun, later made into a film by Steven Spielberg, and his controversial... More »

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obituary • British • death • novelist • author • writer • novel • JG Ballard

APPRECIATION

 Updike: An Author 
 'Hoping to Talk to America' 

Superlatives hardly lacking in wake of writer's death at 76

Jan 27, 09 3:44 PM CST
(Newser) - John Updike, who died today at 76, was many things: Bob Ryan, in the Boston Globe, calls him the author of the “most spellbinding essay ever written about baseball.” For Carolyn Kellogg, in the Los Angeles Times, the first line of his story A&P displays a “... More »

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obituary • literature • novelist • author • novel • Ted Williams • John Updike • sports writer

OPINION

 Chick Lit, Meet Manfiction 

Tough-guy novels offer escapism, entertainment

Oct 13, 08 12:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - With women taking the bestseller charts by storm, publishers may consider the male reading audience negligible, but that’s far from the case, writes Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly. In fact, men have their own form of chick lit—he calls it “manfiction”—which features the male equivalent... More »

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chick lit • novelist • Stephen King • novel

(Newser) - Nicholas Sparks may run low on creative gas, but that only lasts for a minute or two. The multimillionaire author of The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe works out for nearly 3 hours a day before writing 2,000 words and coaching track at his son's school. ''I'm efficient,"... More »

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novelist • author • writer • Nicholas Sparks

appreciation

 Wallace Kept  
 Up 'Debate 
 Inside His 
 Head' 

Infinite Jest author was an 'astute observer' and 'prose magician'

Sep 14, 08 7:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - David Foster Wallace was remembered today as a complex novelist who engaged in layer upon layer of self-examination. The author of Infinite Jest "wrote about the maddening impossibility of scrutinizing yourself without also scrutinizing yourself scrutinizing yourself and so on," Laura Miller writes in Salon. Wallace's suicide remains... More »

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novelist • writer • David Foster Wallace

OPINION

 Aspiring Novelist? Read This

Fiction writer offers tips on juggling creativity, career

Aug 11, 08 2:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - “I’ve always wanted to write” is something novelist Allegra Goodman hears a lot, so she lays out some advice in the Boston Globe for the doctors, venture capitalists, and lactation consultants with stories to tell:
  • “To begin, don’t write about yourself.” Writing is about
... More »

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literature • creative writing • novelist • writer • novel

 New Bond Hits Bookstores 

Latest Bond thriller released on Ian Fleming's 100th birthday

May 27, 08 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new James Bond novel will hit bookstores tomorrow, marking what would have been the 100th birthday of creator Ian Fleming, AFP reports. Details of the new thriller, Devil May Care, have been kept secret, but author Sebastian Faulks—given a license to write Bond books by the Fleming estate—... More »

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publishing • James Bond • novelist • novel • Sebastian Faulks • Ian Fleming

Politics More Than Plot Twist for Roth

Author talks about the old character in his new book—and lays into Bush

Feb 13, 08 6:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Never afraid to find narrative fodder in real life, Philip Roth used the 2004 presidential elections as backdrop for his latest novel, Exit Ghost. The Pulitzer winner expounded on his politics in a lengthy interview with Der Spiegel, admitting he's a fan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and calling... More »

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Barack Obama • novelist • book • Philip Roth • Barack Obama supporters • George W. Bush

George MacDonald Fraser Dead

Jan 3, 08 8:00 PM CST
(Newser) - George MacDonald Fraser, the creator of the Flashman series of of historical novels, died yesterday at age 82.  Fraser's widely read and beloved series of 12 novels featured a lovable, cowardly cad named Harry Flashman, first created as a minor character in the classic 19th century English novel, "... More »

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obituary • novelist • Britain • Harry Flashman • Isle of Mann • George MacDonald Fraser

Murder, He Wrote: Novelist Faces Prison

Polish writer accused
of gruesome death at center of his book

Aug 9, 07 9:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Polish author is on trial for allegedly committing the murder upon which he based his best-selling novel. A jury is currently deliberating the case of Krystian Bala, whose grisly novel Amok fictionalized a famous unsolved murder, the Times of London reports. Prosecutors maintain that the book contains details that... More »

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Poland • murder • trial • novelist • author • Krystian Bala • Amok • book

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