Contemporary American novels please

[EdBird]

looking for recommendations for contemporary American novels. Preferably post 9 - 11 but others welcome too.
Books I loved have been Middlesex, Art of Fielding, Virgin Suicides, Secret History, Tinkers, Corrections, We were the Mulvaneys and I am not allowing myself to read Cormac McCarthy books all at once as trying to eke them out
Also dont know of anyone ideas on a female American author who has recently (within last year) published a new book who is meant to be excellent and comparable to Franzen and Shriver? Read about her in the Times and she had such an unusual name that I thoght I would remember it and of course I didnt :/
Thank you

The single most impressive contemporary American novel I've read in the last several years is Timbuktu, by Paul Auster.

A bookstore told me that they have to keep his books behind the desk because they are so often stolen.

Oh yes MsAmerica, that is a wonderful book!

Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad is a cracking book. I found it a little hard to focus at first but then couldn't put it down.

I second David Foster Wallace - very interesting soul who died far too young.

Oh thank you all so much - this will be invaluable :)
Yes yes - I think it is the interestings by meg wolitzer!!

Great suggestions on here- I will be giving lots a try.

And please don't forget the wonderful Armistead Maupin- a fabulous writer, every book is an absolute joy :)

Have you read the sequel to Tinkers yet? It's called Enon and follows the grandson of the protagonist in Tinkers. I'm a huge fan of both The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex and so I'm planning to read The Marriage Plot very soon. (To my mind, Eugenides is a far better writer than Donna Tartt)

I'd second the Lorrie Moore and John Irving recommendations and would add Dave Eggers and Miranda July.

I read Michael Cunningham's Flesh and Blood recently which was excellent though depressing. Also recommend AM Home and love Barbara Kingsolver.

I would second AM Holmes, Barbara Kingsolver and Jennifer Egan - I loved the Goon Squad book.

Donna Tartt is great, but you've probably already read her.

Have only read one short story by Lorrie Moore, but it was great, and want to read some more.

Glad to see the Paul Auster recommendations - a friend recommended him a while back, and I bought a secondhand copy of The Music of Chance that's been sitting on my shelf since Christmas, so I'm going to read that next.

Jim Harrison?

Poe Ballantine's short stories?

Meg Wolitzer's books are well worth a read. Haven't got round to 'The Interestings' yet, but I loved 'The Position'.....about a family where the parents had published a famous sex-manual (think 'The Joy of Sex') and the now-adult kids had grown up having to deal with the resulting notoriety. It's a great book - funny and wise.

Yes yes is The Interestings you are thinking of. It's fab.

The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin - I found it very American, and American friends enjoyed it too. Just seen that a film was released there a couple of months ago.

The history of love Nichole Krauss. Our book club loved it.

John Irving novels? Not post 9/11, but always a good read.

Thomas McGuane - Driving on the Rim. good reads link

Richard Bausch - Something Out There (short stories) good reads link

DH has just plonked a stack of books in my lap. They include:

Benjamin Percy - The Wilding

Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon

Robert Stone - Fun With Problems

Ron Rash - Chemistry and other Stories

Tao Lin - Richard Yates

Ben Lerner - Leaving the Atocha Station

Kevin Canty - Everything

Haven't read The Motel Life but it sounds right up my street.

Many of the above are amazing.

Just have to second Miranda July and add Aimee Bender. (But not for the faint of heart...)

Oh, and even though it's not post 9-11, JD Salinger's Nine Stories is lovely and disturbing and dark and funny. As are his novels. All of them. (But read Catcher in the Rye last as it's his least best work...)

And yes, the MN name is relevant!

Oops Richard Bausch link

Wallly Lamb - She's Come Undone. Just super. Also love AM Homes.

I've just started Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers and am already loving it. Recommend, but of course it can fall flat like AM Homes did imho, after a great start.

The latest Sara Paretsky is a good read. Modern day murder with links back to WW2.
For humour Carl Hiaisen 'Sick Puppy'.

I'm just starting Olive Kitteridge by E Strout who won a Pulitzer Prize. IS she the funny name?

I love Wally Lamb and Lionel Shriver and would also recommend Alice McDermott, Alice Hoffman and Jane Smiley. Also can I recommend two Canadians, Ann-Marie MacDonald and Carol Shields? The Way the Crow Flies (McDonald) and Unless (Shields) are both amazing.