Underrated

Syntax of Things presents: Underrated Writers of 2006. Some interesting inclusions:

• Jeff Noon, whose works I read widely in the mid-90s. I would argue that his work is slightly dated to be added to this list, and I would disagree with the statement that Falling Out Of Cars is his best work, but I do think he deserves more attention.


• Scarlett Thomas, whose book is still haunting me with an unscratchable itch-like feeling.


• Elizabeth Bowen. I recently acquired a collection of her short stories, and I have a beautiful old hardcover of The Heat of the Day I keep on intending to read past the first chapter.


• Benjamin Kunkel. I love n+1, but Indecision still remains on my list of half-finished (audio) books, if only because on a long drive through Pennsylvania, my brother fell asleep in the middle of it, and when he woke up, he wanted to listen to something else. I still haven't felt the urgent need to return to it, though.


• Halldór Laxness, who has been on my shelf for years. Perhaps it's time to bend the spine.

I hope to look into some other authors on the list (I've been eyeing Richard Powers and Iain Banks for a while now, and, more recently, Brian Evenson and Dana Spiotta).

My own additions:

• Shirley Jackson. Spooky and evil and delicious. All of her books should still be in print. ALL of them.


• Louis Bromfield. I thought I was simply enchanted by his connection to my own history, but now that I've enjoyed one of his works of fiction, I find it sad that this Pulitzer Prize-winning author has fallen largely (but not wholly) out of print.


• Victor Pelevin, whose short stories are fantastical and meaningful, and who brings a new species of Russian literature with him, though he is starting to feel overrated with works like Homo Zapiens, which was a bit too Robert Anton Wilson for my tastes.


• Henning Mankell, who is worshiped in the crime genre world, but largely ignored in the literary world, and of whose work I haven't read nearly enough.


• Rupert Thomson, who was on last year's list, and who I think should be listed again and again until he has as much recognition as many of his British contemporaries.


• Andra Neiburga, Nora Ikstena, Gundega Repše, Pauls Bankovskis, and Inga Ābele, all Latvian authors whose works, unfortunately, remain largely untranslated.

© Zan McQuade. All rights reserved.