Delicate readers take note: Many of the following essays
contain profanity, sexual matters, references to drugs and drug use, and other
adult themes (we're happy to report that there is no nudity). If these essays
were films, many of them would be rated R (with plenty of PG-13s in the
mix).
Writers Under the Influence
In early summer 2004 we commissioned an essay from a young debut
writer. The assignment: What was the book that influenced you the most as a
writer? His response inspired us to fire off that question to more
writers--people we considered bold new voices on the literary scene. Writers
Under the Influence is the result of this endeavor. We hope these essays,
written exclusively for Amazon.com, will inspire you to seek out new
books--both from the writers and the books they're writing about--to add to
your collection.
Brad Land on Jesus' Son
Writers Under
the Influence began with Brad Land, author of the haunting memoir
Goat. Brad's
approach to the question "What
is the book that influenced you the most as a writer?" was too good to be a
one-off, stand-alone feature and inspired us to reach out to other writers. It
also gave him first pick among titles, and his selection of
Jesus' Son
proved to be a hot commodity--a handful of other writers had that book at the
top of their lists as well.
Sarajevo-born writer Aleksandar Hemon--author of two very inventive books, The Question of Bruno and Nowhere Man--has been living in the States since 1992 when, while visiting America, war broke out back home, stranding him in Chicago. Read on as Hemon writes about Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March.
How to Be
Lost, the terrific new novel from
Sleep Toward
Heaven author Amanda Eyre Ward, promises to firmly cement the
already-stellar reputation of this young writer. Amanda gives readers the
chance to write their own essays with
her take on the Choose
Your Own Adventures
books from her youth.
David Amsden made a serious splash on the literary scene with his 2003 debut novel, the powerful coming-of-age tale Important Things that Don't Matter, published when the author was just 23 years old. Amsden checked into Writers Under the Influence with his take on John Updike's Rabbit books.
In early summer 2004 we commissioned an essay from a young debut
writer. The assignment: What was the book that influenced you the most as a
writer? His response inspired us to fire off that question to more
writers--people we considered bold new voices on the literary scene. Writers
Under the Influence is the result of this endeavor. We hope these essays,
written exclusively for Amazon.com, will inspire you to seek out new
books--both from the writers and the books they're writing about--to add to
your collection.
