National Book Critics Circle Award

Beloved was her fifth novel and it explains both historical and gothic fiction, where fact and fable are combined. Morrison based the central event of the novel on a historical account of a slave woman named Margaret Garner. Like Morrison’s character, Sethe, Margaret Garner escaped slavery with her four children and later, when her slaveholder attempted to take them back to slavery, she killed one of her children. Morrison also sets the entire novel in a historical frame, referencing many actual…

through their excellent prose. Karr’s poetry is especially accessible and distinctly American, as seen through her use simple yet meaningful vocabulary and explicitly American characteristics and techniques, making her an acutely apt candidate for the National Poet Laureate position. Mary Karr’s extensive list of accolades and expresses her suitability as a Poet Laureate. Mary Karr was born in January of 1955, in Jefferson County Texas. Karr currently teaches English Literature…

Gwyndolyn, Steinbeck met his third and final wife Elaine Scott. Elaine supported Steinbeck’s career and became a main part of his legacy. While married to Elaine, Steinbeck wrote his last book East of Eden. Considered one of his most outstanding works, East of Eden was written primarily for his two sons, “And if the book is addressed to them, it is for good reason. I want them to know how it was, I want to tell them directly, and perhaps by speaking directly to them I shall speak directly to…

A Thousand Acres is a classic tragedy, which is written by American author Jane Smiley in 1991; won several rewarding awards, like the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991. The novel, has some connections with king Lear -- a tragedy which is written by Shakespeare, which is a reworking of the King Lear plots, represents a modernized interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In this short comparative essay, we will focus on indicating and comparing parallel characters, similar…

Atonement is a novel written by Ian McEwan and first published in 2001. Atonement might be considered an historical novel since most part of the book is set in England and in France before, during and after World War II, but it is most often considered a metafiction novel. Many events of Atonement are related to events that really happened during World War II: fought between 1939 and 1945, the Second World War has been certainly the most terrible war to be fought in history and the number of…

This paper sets out to analyze, through André Brink’s The Rights of Desire, white South Africans’ resentment over the new dispensation in South Africa. Even though the race-based ideology of apartheid was devisedand implemented by people of Afrikaner extraction, there were many amongst white South Africans who were relentless in their scathing condemnation of the immorality of institutionalized racism. André Philipus Brink, Nadine Gordimer, J.M.Coetzee and BreytenBreyten Bach, to name but a few,…

eleven books of poetry throughout her career. Her poetry invokes strong emotions, and although it is not perfect, she exemplifies how modern poetry should be appreciated as well. The early years of Glück’s life played a large role in influencing her poetry. She was born in New York City on April 22, 1943 to Daniel and Beatrice Glück, who were both…

Edith Wharton led one of the most privileged lives of any major American novelists. She lived free of money worries because of inherited income. She had houses in rich areas, passions for gardens and interior decoration, toured Europe in cars and yachts, and despised second-class hotels (Franzen). Wharton lived a high profile life unlike any other authors, a comfortable life that most people today want to live. She came from a long line of important names in the American, specifically the New…

Chapter 1 Introduction Jonathan Earl Franzen, an American writer, is one of the most acclaimed novelist and essayist of today’s era. Born in Western Springs, Illinois on August 17, 1959 this prolific writer has contributed greatly in the industry of literature by producing number of creative pieces of work throughout his writing career. Franzen was brought up in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1981 he graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in German. His…

also the member in Authors League, Barnstable Yacht club, Barnstable comedy Club and Delta Upsilon. Richard Schickel has written, “The trouble with Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is that he fits too easily into superficial literary categories, thus sparing critics from thinking very hard or well about his work”…