What contemporary author has done the best job of advancing literature in our time?

Question

Please provide examples of the authors work (Titles only will do.)

I can only think of two and I am attempting to "broaden my horizons." :D

Answer 1

Dulcinea has it right, I think. (And her name should tell you she knows her literature.)

Among living authors, the magic realists have done the most to establish new ground for literature. Foremost among these are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "1000 Years of Solitude" "Autumn of the Patriarch"; Salman Rushdie, "Midnight's Children" "Satanic Verses"; and Gunter Grass "The Tin Drum" "The Flounder."

There are many many living are recently deceased authors worth reading who may or may not have "advanced" literature. Not every author believes literature to advance like science; some think while there are flows of fashion it matters little whether you participate. American authors worth knowing include Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow", Roth, the Zuckerman books; Morrison "Beloved"; Updike, the Rabbit books.

And of course, in broadening your horizons, it doesn't do to forget the past. Read Tolstoy, Dickens, Melville, Cervantes, Austen, Eliot, Beckett, Conrad, Joyce, etc etc if you haven't yet.

Answer 2

No contemporary author has advanced literature. This is 2006, the advent of an era where art and literature sadly appear obsolete. To be fair, how can one write in a time where the muse is missing and no where to be found.

Answer 3

John Kinsella by far.

He has written over 30 books, an extraordinary number for a living author or literary works including poetry, nonfiction and drama.

He is a political activist who practices what he preaches and works to create a broad understand of our planet and the effects of society. (Australia in particular, but his work is reflective of the western world in general.)

He is the type of poet who will take the time for his readers.

For more information and to see some of his work go to
www.johnkiinsella.org He is generous with his work and you will find an entire book of poetry on this site to download.

His newest book "The New Arcadia" is truly a work of art that should be included in every anthology of western or world literature.

Answer 4

Gore Vidal -- made history popular with books like Burr
Erica Jong -- pushed the sexual envelope by making a #1 smutty best seller
Joyce Carol Oates -- just writes from the heart and has a good following

Steinbeck and Hemminway are no longer contemporary! Neither is Robert Heinline.

Answer 5

Umberto Eco: The name of the rose

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 anos de soledad

Toni Morrison:Beloved

Gunther Grass: The tin drum

Answer 6

I don't know if Toni Morrison fits your description of contemporary, but if you read her re-release of "The Bluest Eye," you will see exactly why she is so great. I have read that story 3 times and have recommended ot to countless friends and associates. I have also used it for a Literature research paper.

Answer 7

Well, it depends on how contemporary. I would say John Steinbeck. He wrote some great pieces including East of Eden, Travels with Charley and several neat short stories.

Answer 8

Thomas Pynchon, Nabokov, James Joyce.....

Pynchon with Gravity's Rainbow
Nabokov with Lolita
and Joyce with Ullysses

Answer 9

Tom Robbins: Still Life with Woodpecker

Answer 10

Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children