Michael Chabon is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1984. He subsequently received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine.
Jonathan Earl Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel The Corrections, a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His novel Freedom (2010) garnered similar praise and led to an appearance on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline "Great American Novelist". Franzen's latest novel Crossroads was published in 2021, and is the first in a projected trilogy.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1996.
Eric Flint was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Locus magazine best-seller lists. He was a co-founder and editor of the Baen Free Library.
Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware is an American cartoonist known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novels Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (2000), Building Stories (2012) and Rusty Brown (2019). His works explore themes of social isolation, emotional torment and depression. He tends to use a vivid color palette and realistic, meticulous detail. His lettering and images are often elaborate and sometimes evoke the ragtime era or another early 20th-century American design style.
Harlan Coben is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple twists. Twelve of his novels have been adapted for film and television.
Mark Helprin is an American-Israeli novelist, journalist, conservative commentator, Senior Fellow of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. While Helprin's fictional works straddle a number of disparate genres and styles, he has stated that he "belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend".
Marilynne Summers Robinson is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. In 2016, Robinson was named in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. Robinson began teaching at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1991 and retired in the spring of 2016.
Denis Hale Johnson was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, Jesus' Son (1992). His most successful novel, Tree of Smoke (2007), won the National Book Award for Fiction. Johnson was twice shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Altogether, Johnson was the author of nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, three collections of poetry, two collections of plays, and one book of reportage. His final work, a book of short stories titled The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, was published posthumously in 2018.
Christopher Abani is a Nigerian American and Los Angeles- based author. He says he is part of a new generation of Nigerian writers working to convey to an English-speaking audience the experience of those born and raised in "that troubled African nation".
Charles Chowkai Yu is an American writer. He is the author of the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown, as well as the short-story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. In 2007 he was named a "5 under 35" honoree by the National Book Foundation. In 2020, Interior Chinatown won the National Book Award for fiction.
Chris Kuzneski is an American novelist. His eleventh novel, The Prisoner's Gold, won the Thriller Award for the 2016 Book of the Year at a gala hosted by the International Thriller Writers (ITW) in New York City on July 9, 2016. His works have also been honored by the Florida Book Awards and named a Literary Guild's featured selection.
The Plantation is the first novel by Chris Kuzneski. First published in 2000, it introduced the characters Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers. The book was endorsed by several notable authors, including James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, Lee Child, and James Rollins.
Sign of the Cross is the second novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. First published in October 2006 by Penguin Group (USA), the religious thriller followed the exploits of Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who have been featured in all of Kuzneski's thrillers. It also introduced the character of Nick Dial, who has appeared in every Kuzneski novel since.
Sword of God was the third novel by Chris Kuzneski. First published in September 2007 by Penguin Group (USA), the action thriller followed the exploits of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones as they slipped into the Islamic city of Mecca in order to rescue an American archaeologist. The book was endorsed by several notable authors, including Nelson DeMille, Vince Flynn, James Rollins, and Douglas Preston.
Castle is an American crime mystery/comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC for a total of eight seasons from March 9, 2009, to May 16, 2016. The series was produced jointly by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios.
The Prophecy is the fifth novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Kuzneski. Published in October 2009 by Penguin UK, the action thriller follows the adventures of Jonathon Payne and David "D.J." Jones as they try to decipher a newly discovered manuscript written by Nostradamus. The book peaked at #4 on the British fiction list and stayed on the bestseller list for several weeks. Putnam released the American hardcover version in July 2010.
The Hunters is a book series written by Chris Kuzneski, an American author. The series follows the adventures of a team of renegades – an ex-military leader, a historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert and a thief – financed by a billionaire philanthropist who are tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures. The series also ties in with Kuzneski's other series, Payne & Jones, by featuring the character Petr Ulster, a historian and curator of the Ulster Archives in Küsendorf, Switzerland, and mentioning a number of minor characters and events from the Payne & Jones universe. The third book in the series, The Prisoner's Gold, won the Thriller Award for the 2016 Book of the Year at a gala hosted by the International Thriller Writers (ITW) in New York City on July 9, 2016.
Chris Pavone is an American author of international thrillers. His first novel, The Expats, was a New York Times bestseller.
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