In 1961, seven years after J.D. Salinger began his lifelong, self-imposed exile from public life, John Updike described the author as "a uniquely relevant literary artist." Whether Salinger thought Updike's statement was a compliment or a slight is irrelevant. Criticism, publicity, or praise -- Salin

Angry, Dark, Dystopic, Post-war literature, Psychological, Rebel

Saul Bellow became one of the twentieth century's great novelists by following the dictum that is repeated to all young fiction writers: Write what you know. Beginning with his first novel, Bellow's voice spoke from the center of his life and times. "The Dangling Man" (1944) tells the story of a youn

Anxiety, Clever, Jewish literature, Post-war literature, Psychological, Sophisticated

Anxiety, Catastrophe, Ecstatic, Epic, Existentialist literature, High realism, Joyful, Manic, Psychological

James Baldwin, one of the most prominent figures in American literature, rose to the highest of literary heights from the most trying of circumstances. Born into a poor Harlem family, he had to contend with an abusive stepfather. Despite the deplorable quality of Harlem's public schools, Baldwin mana

African american fiction, Angry, Homoerotic, Masculine, Psychological, Queer literature, Religious