Literary Figures: Novelists

Israeli writer A. B. Yehoshua. He's one of Israel's most acclaimed authors. His work, written in Hebrew, includes essays, short stories and novels and spans 30 years. His writing has often been compared to William Faulkner. His books include the novel, "Five Seasons," the collected stories, "The Continuing Silence of a Poet," and his latest novel, "Mr. Mani," is about six generations of a Jewish family. (published by Doubleday).

Veteran crime novelist Lawrence Block. He's written nine novels staring Manhattan private eye Matt Scudder. His latest is called "A Ticket To The Boneyard."

First-time novelist Cristina Garcia. Her book, "Dreaming in Cuban," as about three generations of women who are each haunted by a different dream of Cuba. A New York Times review says the book, "announces the debut of a writer, blessed with a poet's ear for language, a historian's fascination with the past and a musician's intuitive understanding of the ebb and flow of emotion." (published by Knopf).

Author Robert Stone. Stone's been widely hailed as a brilliant writer. his first novel, "A Hall of Mirrors," won a William Faulkner Award. He earned a PEN/Faulkner Award for "A Flag For Sunrise," and the national Book Award for "Dog Soldiers." His new novel, "Outerbridge Reach," is the story of one man's search for himself during a solo sailing voyage. (It's published by Ticknor and Fields). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Author Allen Kurzweil. Kurzweil's new book, "A Case of Curiosities," is a comic novel about the life of a 18th Century watchmaker living in France in the days before the Revolution. (It's published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Mystery writer Sara Paretsky. Paretsky's just written the seventh in her series of mysteries starring tough-nails female private eye V.I. Warshawski. (Published by Delacorte Press). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Author Robert Olen Butler. Butler's first novel, "The Alleys of Eden," has been called one of the finest books ever written about Americans in Vietnam. Butler has a new collection of stories, called "A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain." (It's published by Henry Holt). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Writer Richard Bausch. His new novel, "Violence," explores that subject from several points of view,...among then an adult man's memory of child abuse, his wife's earlier experience with an abusive husband, and a violent robbery. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Writer ThulaniI (pronounced "tah-lawn-nee") Davis. Her new novel, "1959," is the story of a young black girl coming of age at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Davis' earlier works include reporting for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and writing the libretto for the opera "X: The Life and Times of Malcom X." ("1959" is published by Grove Weidenfeld.)

White South African writer André Brink was the first Afrikaner to have a novel censored by the government. Brink has written six novels and many essays about the moral dilemmas facing Afrikaners of conscience. His novel "A Dry White Season," was adapted into a film of the same name. His new novel, a political thriller, is called "An Act of Terror." (Summit press)