American Writers

Author Joan Acocella

My Kind of Town: New York

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A noted critic and essayist has a few ideas

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Urbane Renewal

Claire Messud, the best-selling author of The Emperor's Children, discovers the grown-up pleasures of her adolescent playground

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Sound and Fury

Norman Mailer's anger and towering ego propelled-and undermined-his prodigious output

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At Home. For Now

The acclaimed novelist probes our yearning for a fixed address

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Hill of Beans

For author Julia Alvarez and her husband, starting an organic coffee plantation was a wake-up call

“The more race is not supposed to matter, the more it does,” says Packer (in her home office in Pacifica, California). “It’s one of the conundrums of living in America today.” She is currently working on a historical novel titled The Thousands, about the “forgotten masses of blacks who went West.”

Comedienne of Manners

Novelist ZZ Packer uses humor to point up some disconcerting signposts along America's racial divide

“I do think there’s a lot of good writing now on TV,” says Ruhl. “I loved ‘Six Feet Under,’ for example. But writing plays is my first passion. So far, I’m very happy in the theater.”

Wild Woman

Playwright Sarah Ruhl speaks softly and carries a big kick

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Have Roots, Will Travel

Like the four generations of Angelenos who preceded her, the best-selling author likes to get around

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Teaming up with Thoreau

One hundred fifty years after the publication of Walden, Henry David Thoreau is helping scientists monitor global warming

Louis Castro (bottom row, left) played 42 games as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1902 season. Because his birthplace is questioned by baseball historians, he may or may not have been the first Hispanic player in the Major Leagues.

Debating Louis Castro

Was he the first foreign-born Hispanic in the Major Leagues?

Kerouac (with the author in Greenwich Village in 1957) was as unprepared as anyone else for his novel's surprise impact.

Remembering Jack Kerouac

A friend of the author of "On the Road," published 50 years ago this month, tells why the novel still matters

The almost proprietary interest that Cubans take in Hemingway can be seen in the lobby of the Ambos Mundos Hotel (above), where photographs of the author overlook the lobby.

Hemingway's Cuba, Cuba's Hemingway

His last personal secretary returns to Havana and discovers that the novelist's mythic presence looms larger than ever

Prague

Almost a Fairy Tale

Jonathan Kandell, author of "Americans in Prague," talks about one of Europe's most beautiful cities

"I think most Americans don't realize how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War," says Ferling.

Forget Independence

John Ferling, author of "100 Days that Shook the World," imagines an alternate history

The first thing Terry Smith did after moving to Washington in 1977 was buy a boat and sail it on the Bay.

A Great Adventure

Terry Smith, author of "Beyond Jamestown," sailed in the 400-year-old wake of colonial explorer Capt. John Smith

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Horse Appeal

In this interview, Steve Twomey, author of "Barbaro's Legacy," discusses how interest in the horse extends outside the racetrack

Zuni or not, every woman is obliged to pitch in for the Sha'lako corn-grinding ceremony. During the religious festival, says Morell (far right), "people are expected to set aside all feelings of ill-will and hostility."

Mystery and Drama

Virginia Morell, author of "The Zuni Way," on the mystical ceremonies of the Zuni pueblo

"War Thoughts at Home" is only one small part of a much larger research project, says Stilling.

Frost Bite

A recently discovered poem by Robert Frost has brought fame—and controversy—to an English student

Longfellow is only the second writer to grace a U.S. stamp more than once.

Famous Once Again

Longfellow reaches his bicentennial; here's why his poems became perennial

Author of "Bernini's Genius," Arthur Lubow.

Admiring the Masters

In this Q & A, Arthur Lubow, author of "Americans in Paris," compares the Paris of today with the one that inspired Manet, Monet and Renoir

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