In the most recent issue of The New Yorker,
the editors listed 20 writers under the age of 40
whom they "believe are, or will be, key to their generation." (Their
books are displayed below.) This
list arrives a decade after a similarly themed grouping the magazine
published
in 1999, titled "The Future of American Fiction." With both lists, the
editors acknowledge their efforts to include writers who had, in their
words
"proved themselves" as well as "those whom we expected to excel
in years to come."
After our staff read the list, there was a great deal of
discussion about the writers included: why were they chosen and others, some of
whom are staff favorites, left off? If we created our own list, whose talent do
we believe propels them above other writers of the same or similar generation?
What about exceptional authors who published earlier in this century but whose
output was, sadly, shortened by early death? As a cultural and literary
institution, what is the Politics & Prose connection to the list?
Over the next few weeks, we'll introduce you to The P&P Top 20 Under 40 - our booksellers' favorite writers, additional young writers we believe also
deserve special notice. We'll also discuss a few writers whose early death we
feel cheated the world of promising talent and, in some instances, cheated them
of a literary legacy a longer life would have otherwise guaranteed.
Whatever your opinion may be about ranking talent in
general, or about The New Yorker list
in particular, we encourage you to e-mail
us your thoughts and opinions. Reading is a solitary act, but its
enjoyment should be shared.
-Lacey
Dunham and Michael Allen on behalf of the Politics & Prose staff
