Literary Figures: Novelists

Sheed wrote the text for The Kennedy Legacy, which features photographs of the late president. He joins Fresh Air to discuss his work as a critic and author. Sheed grew up interested in sports; a bout of polio turned him into an avid reader. His parents ran one of the largest Catholic publishing houses.

The Israeli author's new novel is about a man descended from both a Jewish Holocaust survivor and a Palestinian aristocrat. While Kaniuk fought for the Israeli War for Independence, he also signed -- along with other Israeli and Arab intellectuals and artists -- an agreement advocating for Palestinian independence.

The author says his life -- and writing -- has been defined by struggle. He didn't read a novel until he was in his twenties. His first, controversial work, Last Exit to Brooklyn, documented its protagonist's violent, working class life. It's now being made into a film.

Novellist Don DeLillo doesn't like talking about his novels; but he says there's much to discuss about his newest book Libra, based on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. DeLillo sought to fill in the gaps of that story, including what motivated gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.

Samuel Delany's new memoir is called The Motion of Light in Water. Delany sees himself as part of newer, left-of-center generation of science fiction writers. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his position in the margins as a genre writer and a black gay man, his dyslexia, and his perspective on the AIDS epidemic.

Novelist Donald Westlake has written everything, from confession stories to westerns to science fiction. But he's found the most success with his mystery and crime stories. He wrote a series of novels under the name Richard Stark featuring an emotionless criminal named Parker; his newest book, Trust Me on This, is a humorous tale of a tabloid journalist.

The novelist once said that science fiction is a branch of children's literature -- an assertion he largely stands by today. Nonetheless, he makes a concerted effort to write for adults, using the genre to satirize serious topics. His newest book for young readers is called The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars.

Writer Michael Tolkin's novel The Player is based on his experiences as a screenwriter interacting with film executives in Hollywood.

Novelist Alice Hoffman's new book is about a child who contracts AIDS. Her previous novel draws on her own experience with agoraphobia.

The writer published her first story she was 35; her first novel came out nine years later. Her latest book, Silver, is about marriage, domesticity and suburban life.