Who are the literary titans of today?

Cafe Society
1

I have recently started binging on Mad Men (I never watched it in it’s initial run). Seeing the portrayal of the 1960’s elicited some nostalgic ruminations. It occurred to me that through the middle of the 20th century we had an abundance of what one might term “Literary Titans”, celebrity authors who’s names would be recognized by a lot of people. Even a small town kid like me would have some sense of who these people were, even if I wasn’t reading them. Back then many of them would show up on TV chat shows on occasion and be written about in magazines. Names I am thinking of are:

  • Cheever
  • Roth
  • Bellows
  • Capote
  • Heller
  • Vidal
  • Vonnegut
  • Salinger
  • Mailer

Those are just the ones that I can list off the top of my head, and you don’t even need a first name to know who I am referring to.

Do we have similar well known literary titans today? It’s seems that we don’t really have the same celebrity literary authors. I separate out popular fiction writers from “literature” authors (maybe there is a whole discussion on this difference, but I think one generally gets the distinction - I’m not talking about Stephen King or Dan Brown or David Baldacci, etc.)

Who are the big name literary authors of today? I can think of names but I don’t see them having the same public profile of the earlier names I listed.

Possible:

  • McEwan
  • Murakami
  • Franzen
  • Rushdie

Who do you think of as today’s version of Mailer or Capote?

2

Maya Angelou, maybe?
Rudolfo Anaya?
Umberto Eco?

These days, I think “Serious Literature” is a pretty tiny niche. Stephen King may be the best our generation can come up with.

3

Margaret Atwood has been a Booker Prize nominee several times and won it once.

4

Angelou, Eco, Atwood, are definitely recognizable. I must confess I have not heard of Anaya (not that I am the best yardstick for this, that’s why I’m asking).

5

Pynchon had a cameo on The Simpsons. Does that count as much as a TV chat show?

6

Anaya may be a local celebrity. (I live in the southwestern U.S.) If your area has a large Hispanic community, I would expect the bookstores to stock his work. But I could be wrong.

7

I would consider Pynchon to fit the bill.

8

Cormac McCarthy?

9

Maybe on McCarthy? Would a knowledgeable contemporary high-schooler know the name?

10

Kazuo Ishiguro, perhaps. The Nobel Prize kind of clinches it.

11

Ishiguro might fit the bill. But consider, I am not just looking at acclaimed current authors, I’m also looking for being a public figure/celebrity status of sorts.

12

Definitely Pynchon
DeLillo
Morrison, until she passed last summer.

13

Yes to DeLillo and Morrison.

Maybe add Amis to the list.

14

You don’t see Thomas Pynchon doing a lot of talk show appearances.

15

Well, the OP listed J.D. Salinger, who was also a recluse.

16

Joyce Carol Oates?
John Irving?
Alice Walker?

I think a case could be made for Stephen King as “literary.” Sure, he churns out best-sellers, but so did Charles Dickens.

17

I was thinking of Amis, too. I suppose we could toss Barnes in there as well. Franzen, sure.

18

I’m really not up to snuff with contemporary writers, but I think that’s a good example. Bestseller, rather sophisticated style, original subjects and themes, some remarkable movie adaptions, critics’ darling, impressive and interesting personality (with his own documentary). In fact, Nobel Prize material.

19

I think so. “The Road” is the type of novel that would quickly find its way onto the reading lists of high school English literature courses and kids probably know “No Country for Old Men” by way of the movie.

20

Aleksandar Hemon.