Modern US fiction - looking for recommendations

[summerintherosegarden]

I'm a huge fan of John Irving, Tom Wolfe, Michael Chabon, Donna Tartt, Jonathan Franzen... Wondering if anyone else who likes some or all of the above and has any thoughts on other authors to try?

Have a look at John Connolly. He writes novels based around Portland, Maine, and Maine in general. Start with Every Dead Thing (pub1999) and go from there.

John isn't AMerkin (thanks Dubya), he's Irish, but he seems to have his finger on the pulse, writing believable crime thrillers.

I love Donna Tartt's novels, I've read Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections (really good). I recently read Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot and plan to read Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides shortly - have you tried his novels?

Thanks both. I haven't read any Jeffrey Eugenides yet, but have been planning to! I hadn't heard of John Connolly - I'll look him up. Always good to read Maine based books (okay, am a bit of a Stephen King geek too...)

I recommend Brady Udall and Jonathan Tropper.

I love modern US fiction too and i second Jonathan Tropper. Also Wally Lamb and Jonathan Dee. I'm reading The Art of Fielding at the moment and thoroughly enjoying it. Jennifer Egan, Ethan Canin and Joshua Ferris might also work.

Brilliant, loads to try! Off to the library today, very excited...

Have you tried Joe R. Lansdale? More of a crime/pulp fiction thing but imho a GREAT novelist. Gripping, funny, well written and well balanced books.

I'm also a fan of John Irving and Jonathan Franzen.

Have you tried Anne Tyler? I've read almost all of her books and enjoyed every single one. I would hate to choose a favourite.

Just coming on to say Jonathan Franzen too. The Corrections is possibly my most favourite book.

Yes! to Anne Tyler. I read Patchwork Planet for a book group when I was a teenager and have loved her ever since. I'll add Joe Lansdale to the list... Jonathan Tropper was the only author of all the above that I could find at my local library so got out This is Where I Leave You and guess I'll have to look further afield for the others.

thestringcheesemassacre, have you read Freedom yet? I really liked the Corrections - particularly the ending, which I thought was wonderful - but think I marginally preferred Freedom. I'm not even sure why as in general I got along better with the characters in Corrections, particularly the women.

I've enjoyed the following authors in recent years: Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Dee, Chad Harbach (Art of Fielding), Nicole Krauss, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Tyler, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Joshua Ferris, Bret Easton Ellis, Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, Alice Hoffman, Jonathan Safran Froer (sp?), Steve Martin, Paul Auster, Siri Hudsvedt (sp?)

Augusten Burroughs...very very funny.
Armistead Maupin.

what about AMor thingy and the rules of civility

Summerintherose I haven't read it yet, I've been a bit slack with reading lately. But will order now. Oh lovely.

Dennis Lehane, try Mystic River or The Given Day

I like most of the writers in the OP's list, so my tastes may be similar. Wasn't as keen on Freedom as I was on the Corrections, though.

Richard Powers is one of my favourite writers, but remarkably unknown over here. Of his recent ones, I like The Echo Maker best, but Generosity is also brilliant.

Has no one mentioned Barbara Kingsolver? The Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer and the Lacuna are all very much worth reading.

And another slightly less well-known one is Chang-rae Lee, a Korean-American writer. I have enjoyed Aloft, A Gesture Life and Native Speaker, but haven't read his latest one yet.

Richard Russo is also very good.