Literary Figures: Novelists

Ballard's novel "Crash" is the basis for Cronenberg's new film of the same name. Ballard is also the author of "Empire of the Sun" (which was made into a film by Steven Spielberg), and "Concrete Island." He's written over 20 novels.

Novelist Michael Ondaatje and film director Anthony Minghella talk about the film "The English Patient." It has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Odaatje wrote the novel the original novel. The book which won him Britain's highest literary prize, the Booker Prize.

Wallace's 1,079 page novel "Infinite Jest" was critically acclaimed. His essays and stories have appeared in Harpers, The New Yorker, Playboy, The Paris Review, and others. He has a new collection of essays, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," (Little, Brown & Co.) The book's title comes from his comic account of being pampered to death on a luxury cruise, which originally appeared in Harpers.

Kelly worked as a construction worker for ten years, three of which he worked on the Third New York City Water Tunnel alongside other "sandhogs," Irish and West Indian urban miners who dig soft ground tunnels in the city. He also holds a master's degree from Harvard University. His first novel "Payback" tells the story of two Irish-American brothers living in 1980s New York among the Irish mob and the construction workers' unions.

One of the most popular writers of the legal thriller genre, John Grishim. The prolific writer has seven novels to his credit. His eighth and newest is "The Partner." He recently returned to practicing law.

Born in Rotterdam in 1931, Wetering was once a motorcycle gang member in South Africa, an aspiring monk in Kyoto, Japan, and a police officer in Amsterdam. He is currently living in Maine. The Dutch author's colorful past has led him to be known as an eccentric and hypnotic storyteller whose latest novel "The Hollow-Eyed Angel," the 13th in his Amsterdam cop series.

Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. After his mother was mysteriously strangled to death when he was ten, he grew up obsessed with crime. His life spun towards booze, drugs, theft, and jail. He eventually cleaned up his life and began writing. He has written several novels, many of which were international best-sellers, including "American Tabloid," "The Black Dahlia," and his most recent book, "My Dark Places," in which he tells the story of his mother's murder.

America's pre-eminent writer has written forty-seven books, including 17 novels. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, poet, and essayist has now turned his attention to his other passion. "Golf Dreams: Writings on Golf" is published by Knopf.

Nunez's debut autobiographical novel was "A Feather on the Breath of God." Her newest is "Naked Sleeper." (HarperCollins). One reviewer calls it "a fine novel of maturing at 40." Another writes that it's "a steady, superbly insightful study of a life as quietly complex as the reader's own."

Theroux's extensive travels have taken him through Africa, Asia and Central America. In his earlier writings, a central theme of his work was the ironic examination of the clashing and mingling of Western and Third World cultures. His new book, "My Other Life" (Houghton Bufflin) is a work of fiction about a character named Paul Theroux, based on his experiences and encounters as a world traveler. His interview was recorded at the Free Library in Philadelphia