Literary Figures: Novelists

Novelist Sue Miller. She wrote the best-seller, "The Good Mother," which was made into a movie starring Diane Keaton. She has a new novel, called "Family Pictures." It's about a family coping with an autistic child. (It's published by Harper and Row).

Author Hubert Selby, Junior. His first novel, "Last Exit to Brooklyn," was published in 1957. It's just been made into a movie, and Selby was an advisor and plays a small part in the film, which opened this week. Selby teaches at the University of Southern California, and is working on a new novel.

Writer John Banville. His new novel is called "The Book of Evidence." (published by Scribners). It's a story of crime and guilt. Banville is literary editor of the Irish Times.

Writer Jessica Hagedorn. Her debut novel, "The Dogeaters," is set amid the mixture of cultures that makes up the Philippines. Hagedorn herself was born and raised in the Philippines. Prior to this novel, she's been a poet, performance artist, playwright, and commentator for "Crossroads." ("The Dogeaters" is published by Pantheon).

Poet VIikram Seth (VICK-ram SATE) He was born in India and has lived in England, China and the U.S. He's just completed his first novel -- a novel written in verse, "The Golden Gate" (published by Knopf). David Rieff of "Vanity Fair" says of the book, "At once a bittersweet love story, a wickedly funny novel of manners and an unsentimental meditation on mortality and the nuclear abyss."

Novelist Tom Robbins. His latest book "Skinny Legs and All," (Bantam Books) involves a young Virginia artist, Ellen Cherry, who moves to New York to pursue an art career and ends up a waitress at Isaac & Ishmael's, a restaurant owned by an Arab and a Jew which sits across the street from the United Nations. Other characters of note: Salome, the teenage belly dancer, and some magical objects: a conch, a stick, a sock, a can o'beans, and a spoon.

British writer Fay Weldon. She's most famous for her book, "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil," which was recently made into a movie. Weldon's novels deal with certain aspects of the female experience. In her first novel, "Fat Women's Joke" (1967), an over-weight middle-aged woman leaves her husband and struggles for self-respect in a world where youth and sex appeal count. And the heroine of "Down Among the Women," is an unwed mother. In all, Weldon has written fourteen novels and story collections.

Writer Paul Auster. Auster began his writing life first as a poet and translator. In a review of his fifth novel, "Moon Palace," Jane Smiley said, "Auster's style is continually surprising and arresting...the characters are drawn with precision and wit...with great generosity and love." Auster's other books include City of Glass, Ghosts, and a memoir, The Invention of Solitude. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Author Paul Monette. His memoir, "Borrowed Time," (Avon books) told his story of living with death and aids. His latest book is a novel, "Afterlife," (Crown books) about how three different men deal with the grief of losing a lover from aids. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Novelist Tim O'Brien. He was writing about Vietnam long before it became fashionable to do so. His Vietnam memoir, "If I die in a Combat Zone," was published in 1973. O'Brien's 1979 novel "Going After Cacciato" was praised for its depiction of the Vietnam War. It also was the surprise winner of the 1979 National Book Awards -- beating out books by John Irving and John Cheever.