Synopses & Reviews
An energetic collection celebrating the bold writers at the forefront of todays literary worldfeaturing stories, essays, and poems from Americas greatest literary journal” (Time)
For more than half a century, the Paris Review has launched some of the most exciting new literary voices, from Philip Roth to David Foster Wallace. But rather than trading on nostalgia, the storied journalreconceived in 2010 by editor Lorin Steincontinues to search outside the mainstream for the most exciting emerging writers. Harmonizing a timeless literary feel with impeccable modern taste, its pages are vivid proof that the best of todays writing more than upholds the lofty standards that built the magazines reputation.
The Unprofessionals collects pieces from the new iteration of the Paris Review by contemporary writers who treat their art not as a profession, but as a calling. Some, like Zadie Smith, Ben Lerner, and John Jeremiah Sullivan, are already major literary presences, while others, like Emma Cline, Joshua Cohen, and Ottessa Moshfegh, will soon be household names.
A master class in contemporary writing across genres, this collection introduces the must-know voices in the modern literary scene.
Review
"[T]he strongest stories in The Book of Other People should serve as introductions to their authors' oeuvres, enticing the reader to investigate further the work of writers like Edwidge Danticat, Jonathan Lethem and Colm Toibin." Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Review
"The stories included here are wonderfully various, the styles wide-ranging, the tempers diverse." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Some of these stories are clunky....But in the best of them, Lethem, Eggers, Danticat and Smith herself create satisfying characters as memorable as any in their novels." USA Today
Synopsis
A stellar host of writers explore the cornerstone of fiction writing: character.
The Book of Other People is about character. Twenty-five or so outstanding writers have been asked by Zadie Smith to make up a fictional character. By any measure, creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise, and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and, in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety: straight realism if such a thing exists is not the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers, and this anthology features a rich assortment of exceptional examples.
The writers featured in The Book of Other People include:
- Aleksandar Hemon
- Nick Hornby
- Hari Kunzru
- Toby Litt
- David Mitchell
- George Saunders
- Colm Tibn
- Chris Ware
- and more
Synopsis
A stellar host of writers explore the cornerstone of fiction writing: character The Book of Other People is about character. Twenty-five or so outstanding writers have been asked by Zadie Smith to make up a fictional character. By any measure, creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise, and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and, in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety: straight "realism"-if such a thing exists-is not the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers, and this anthology features a rich assortment of exceptional examples.
The writers featured in The Book of Other People include:
Aleksandar Hemon
Nick Hornby
Hari Kunzru
Toby Litt
David Mitchell
George Saunders
Colm Tand#243;iband#237;n
Chris Ware, and more
About the Author
Zadie Smith was born in Northwest London in 1975 and still lives in the area. She is the author of White Teeth and The Autograph Man.