Bright, Early jazz, Ebullient, Jazz vocalists, Playful, Round, Sincere

A minimalist jazz pianist who took bebop to even higher heights, Thelonious Sphere Monk was a unique character and a maverick in the music industry. How else can we describe a man who kept his grand piano in his kitchen? Not interested in using his music to please people, Monk strove to discover ways

Beats, Bebop, Enigmatic, Improvised, Loose, Playful, Quirky, Slangy

A portrait of Tibor Kalman's middle-aged face almost passes as commonplace: a receding hairline, squinting eyes, and a toothy, sincere smile. Kalman's design career, however, has questioned all boundaries and expectations set by the ordinary. Born in Budapest in 1949, Kalman was educated in journa

Huge, In-your-face, Overflowing, Playful, Postmodernism, Rebel, Wise assy

It is the rare novelist who can elicit a contract for his death, but Salman Rushdie managed to do precisely that with a Postmodern, playful rumination on religion and politics that made Islamic literalists gnash their teeth and ready their Kalashnikovs. Born on the eve of India's declaration of indep

Dense, Epic, Excessive, Expansive, Magical realism, Playful, Political, Post-colonial literature, Postmodern fiction, Profane, Round, Sprawling, Wise assy