Literary Figures: Novelists

Tan's debut novel, "The Joy Luck Club," was a huge critical and commercial success, earning Tan a nomination for the National Book Award. She has a new novel, called "The Kitchen God's Wife," which draws explicitly from her mother's experiences as a Chinese immigrant and survivor of an abusive relationship.

Alvarez was born into a prosperous family in the Dominican Republic. When she was ten, her family moved to New York City. Alvarez's new novel, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents," is a semi-autobiographical work about the clash of cultures in her early life.

Sayles' films include Return of the Secaucus Seven, Brother From Another Planet, Matewan, and Eight Men Out. He has just written a novel, called Los Gusanos, about Cuban Americans living in Miami. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the difference between moviemaking and creative writing.

Historian Simon Schama. His new historical novel, "Dead Certainties," examines the deaths of two revolutionary figures from various perspectives.

Writer Nicholson Baker. His new book, "U and I," is a quirky look at how writer John Updike has shaped Baker's life

Cisneros' first book, "The House on Mango Street," told the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young girl growing up in the Latino quarter of Chicago. Cisneros has a new collection of stories, called "Woman Hollering Creek."

Novelist Mary Gordon has a new collection of essays, "Good Boys and Dead Girls: And Other Essays." Catholicism has been a constant theme in her novels, which include: "Final Payment," and "The Company of Women." American fiction by men, Catholicism, and abortion are some of the issues she write about in her new book

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit talks with Indian writer Gita Mehta. Mehta wrote the best-selling novel, "Raj," which has just been released in paperback.

Galeano wrote the trilogy, "Memory of Fire," a surrealistic history of the Americas. Galeano comes from Urugua; he fled to Argentina when the dictatorship took over, and later fled Spain. His new book is "The Book of Embraces," and draw from his own life.

McPherson is currently working on a new book about the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution. An excerpt of the book recently appeared in the literary magazine, "Granta."