Best books of the decade -- new faces
Before folks run me out of town for highlighting The Stephenie Meyer Decade, let me note that she wasn't the only new novelist drawing attention. There were plenty of fresh faces among the major prize-winners and on best-seller lists.
We could easily create a strong Top 10 list of authors who broke out since 2000. Here are some I'd include:
-- Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of the Maladies," a collection of short stories, won the 2000 Pulitzer. She followed up with "The Namesake" and another touching collection, "Unaccustomed Earth."
-- Michael Chabon, a Columbia native, won a Pulitzer in 2001 for "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," and followed up with the comic "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and "Manhood for Amateurs."
-- Junot Diaz, another Pulitzer winner, scored for "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."
-- Dave Eggers got our attention with "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," and followed with the truly heart-breaking "What Is the What." His latest is "Zeitoun."
Sarah Vowell is one of the newest favorites, with a quirky humor on display in"Assassination Vacation" and "The Wordy Shipmates."
What other new authors have you discover since 2000?
Comments
Jonathan Tropper, who broke out with "This is Where I Leave You" this summer, but had even better efforts previously in "Plan B," "Everything Changes," "How to Talk to a Widower" and "The Book of Joe."
Posted by: Brian | December 15, 2009 6:15 AM
Not to nitpick, but I'm pretty sure Michael Chabon has been writing bestselling books since the '80s.
Posted by: Mike | December 15, 2009 7:49 AM
Mike, you're right. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was released in 1988. But Kavalier and Clay was the break-out book that made his name and gave him a much wider audience.
Posted by: Dave | December 15, 2009 8:26 AM
Jonathan Safran Foer is brilliant. I just finished Everything is Illuminated and am now reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Posted by: Susan | December 15, 2009 10:57 AM
Well, I probably need to put some thought into this one, but the ones that pop out immediately for me include:
Michael Koryta
Sean Chercover
Alafair Burke
Marcus Sakey
Craig Johnson
Louise Penny
Tom Schreck
Chris Grabenstein
Sophie Littlefield
Brad Parks
These folks are all staples of my reading diet these days.
Posted by: Jen Forbus | December 15, 2009 12:20 PM
Chabon is definitly up there for me (even if I can't pronounce his name). His Gentlement of the Road is probably my favorite so far.
Jim Butcher: His Dresden files series is pretty awesome and his Fantasy series Codex Alera was pretty good as well.
Aaron McGruder is on the cusp since Boondocks didn't get syndicated unitl 1999 but honestly that series was amazing.
Mike Carey is also on the cusp since he's written before 2000 but he's relatively new to prose. His Felix Castor series, which like the Dreden Files, is a nice mix of Supernatural with Detective fiction and the London setting really sets apart these similar series (plus Castor has little actual "Magic" so there's that too).
Posted by: Matt K | December 16, 2009 11:26 AM