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Discussion: Favorite authors no one has ever heard of
Can I make a confession? I have a terrible memory. I've read zillions of great books in my life, but I suck at remembering them or who wrote them. It seems to be that for me, the most recent great find knocks everything else out of my head so I can only ever remember one.
At the moment, the "one" is The Time it Takes to Fall by Margaret Lazarus Dean.
For me, it has a lot going for it. 1) Great, great writing. Many times in the reading I was just stopped dead by her exquisitely perfect choice of a word or a phrase that sublimely conveys a moment in the story. And I learned a lot from this book about the use of details to make a scene, a character, or a whole story believable. 2) It's set in Florida, 1986, amid the Space Shuttle program. Being a space nerd since I can remember, that predisposes me to like it too. And 3) it's her first novel, which is of course a great inspiration for all of us who hope to have a successful first novel someday.
She hasn't written (or at least published) anything else yet, but I look forward to when she does.
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The Fallen
I'm a horrible judge of who has never been heard of unfortunately. It always seems to me that whenever I find someone I've never heard of before, everyone else already has. It's probably just that most people around me put their books in a purse or something and I only see them when everyone around me is reading and I'm not, which never happens. That said, I'm fairly sure that a new author I found recently is pretty obscure. His name is Kelly McCullough, and he's a really funny writer who creates likable charecters.
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This site is named after the fact that while a few books are best sellers, most sell a few hundred or (if lucky) a few thousand copies. The appealing thing about the long tail to me is that it gives a reader plenty of room to avoid the crowds. Out here you can discover our own favorite author and reveal him to your reading buddys. There is a kind of glory in being the first kid on the block who read Tom Robbins or Syne Mitchell.
Last summer I read Last Night at the Lobster, by Stuart O'Nan. This guy is good. If you have ever worked in the American Mall culture, you will immediately recognize the well drawn characters. He manages to take these people that we usual ignore and get you to root for them as they struggle against the existential problems of modern life.
I'm curious to know who else might be out there in the long tail?