http://21stcenturylit.com The Best Books and Authors of the Next Generation Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:14:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en No disrespect to Quentin, but I like my pulp fiction on, well...pulp. Not celluloid. At 1150 pages, The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps is like a crash course in the hard-boiled and sinful. It's helpfully divided into three major archetype-sections--good guys ("The Crimefighters"), bad guys ("The Villains") and the ... http://21stcenturylit.com/07/some-tarantino-free-pulp-fiction/ The Coen Brothers' creepy No Country For Old Men (based on the creepy Cormac McCarthy book of the same name) is out in limited release today, and the reviews are ridiculously great. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 93% positive, the likes of which I personally haven't seen since, what, Ratatouille? ... http://21stcenturylit.com/09/great-reviews-creepy-trailer-for-no-country-for-old-men/ Reviewed by Melissa Fish What’s in a name? Colson Whitehead addresses this age-old question in his intriguingly-titled Apex Hides the Hurt, a novel that focuses primarily on the character and experiences of a nomenclature consultant who travels to a small rural town undergoing a name-changing crisis. The town’s history, future growth ... http://21stcenturylit.com/13/apex-hides-the-hurt-by-colson-whitehead/ Reviewed by Ryan Bradley An old millionaire named General Sternwood lies on his deathbed. His two daughters rack up gambling debts, fall into blackmail plots, get men killed and see men killed. They giggle, bat their eyelashes, sway their hips, and jump into bed with all the racketeers and two-bit hoodlums ... http://21stcenturylit.com/29/the-big-sleep-by-raymond-chandler/ For a first time novelist Ben Dolnick is sure getting a lot of press. His debut effort, Zoology, the story of college student Henry Elinsky who moves back in with his parents and takes a job at the Central Park Zoo after flunking out of college, has garnered largely ... http://21stcenturylit.com/29/ben-dolnicks-zoology/ Add another notch to Ethan Hawke's belt. The actor, writer, and now second time director is bringing his 1997 debut novel, The Hottest State, to a screen near you. Hawke wrote, directed, and stars in the semi-autobiographical film, which is expected to hit theaters on August 24th. While the jury ... http://21stcenturylit.com/24/the-hottest-state-coming-to-a-screenipod-near-you/ Reviewed by Francisca Hu Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an ominously dreamlike and contemplative look at the powerful reach of evil and those who are scarred by its effects. The story begins with the seemingly ordinary disappearance of a household cat. Toru Okada, an unemployed man uncertain of his purpose ... http://21stcenturylit.com/21/the-wind-up-bird-chronicle-by-haruki-murakami/ Reviewed by Melissa Fish Let’s face it – I’m a sucker for novelty. That, in fact, is what first piqued my interest in Walter Kirn’s http://21stcenturylit.com/10/the-unbinding-by-walter-kirn/ Reviewed by Alex Glaser Margaret Atwood is correct when she claims that Orhan Pamuk is literally 'narrating his country into being’ with the book Snow. More than anything else, this novel of a lost poet in search of love and inspiration in small town Turkey concerns itself with heady political, ... http://21stcenturylit.com/28/snow-by-orhan-pamuk/ Reviewed by George Quraishi Mason LaVerle sets out from an isolated Montana commune seeking to replenish the gene pool of his dwindling, inbred religious sect, the Aboriginal Fulfilled Apostles. What he finds is that the only people willing, or even likely, to come back with him could use some pretty serious ... http://21stcenturylit.com/07/mission-to-america-by-walter-kirn-2/