Literary Figures: Novelists

Hansen's books feature a gay man in the hyper-masculine role of private detective. Hansen himself is gay, and hopes that his novels will help his readers become more accepting of homosexuality.

Authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler rose to prominence in pulp magazines like The Black Mask. Writer Ron Goulart's new book, The Dime Detectives, explores this history. Goulart is a genre author who publishes under a variety of different pseudonyms.

Twenty-five-year-old writer Trey Ellis' new, experimental book Platitudes has garnered high praise, along with comparisons to fellow African American novelists Alice Walker and Ishmael Reed.

Hamilton says he'll always be pigeonholed as a New Yorker cartoonist; his work regularly appears in that magazine. His new novel, The Lap of Luxury, is about marrying into a rich family.

The author came from a political family, which he says didn't groom him for life as a writer. Nonetheless, Vidal has continued to stay engaged in politics through his series of historical novels and a new essay collection, called At Home. He tells Fresh Air host Terry Gross about some of his early work, and how television helped bolster his celebrity.

Lawrence Shainberg's new book links brain damage to the writer's imagination

Author William Gibson is credited with creating the cyberpunk genre, which dispenses with nationalistic ideas of the future, and instead posits a world where multinational corporations rule and nation-states have eroded. His newest novel is called Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Writer Nick Tosches wrote the book Hellfire, profiling rock progenitor Jerry Lee Lewis. Now he has a novel called Cut Numbers, about small-time loan sharks in New York City.

Eric Kraft created a literary alter ego named Peter Leroy; Leroy's exploits were chronicled in newsletters and, later, eight novels. Kraft's newest book, Herb 'n' Lorna, is about Leroy's grandparents, who sell erotic jewelry.

Vachss is based in New York and specializes in child abuse cases. His work extends into his crime fiction, which follows an unlicensed detective named Burke. Vachss also helped manage a juvenile prison.