Underrated Writers

Pete Dexter

Of Pete Dexter, C. Max Magee writes: "Dexter is somewhat well-known, he won a National Book Award for Paris Trout in the late 80s, but he's underappreciated. Dexter writes noir.  His characters are violent, his plots gripping. Dexter was a newspaper reporter in Philadelphia for a long time before he became a fiction writer, but he has taken that sensibility with him.  His fiction lives in the dark alleys, and he manages to imbue his books with a subtle menace.  Paris Trout is his best, but the most recent, Train, is quite good, too."

More about Pete Dexter
+  Powell's interview with Dexter
+  Dexter's wikipedia entry
+  Dexter's literature map
+  An excerpt of Train
+  Dexter talks to Leonard Lopate (realmedia)

Michelle Huneven

C. Max Magee writes: "Michelle Huneven is a food writer for the LA Weekly who has written two novels.  Jamesland, her most recent, is part mystery part character exploration.  It's not a murder-mystery, but more a mystery of origins and faith that her characters have to unravel.  The book is also a great look at the vast part of LA that is only peripherally affected by Hollywood, and she also, of course, finds room for some luscious descriptions of food."

More about Michelle Huneven
+  The Millions' discussion of Huneven's Jamesland and Max's review
+  Atlantic Monthly review of Jamesland (found at Powell's)
+  An excerpt of Jamesland
+  LAist interview
+  Random House of Canada spotlight

Ryszard Kapuscinski

"Kapuscinski," C. Max Magee tells us, "is a Polish journalist who has spent much of his life writing for the Polish equivalent of the Associated Press. For over forty years he has covered the world's 'little wars' in places like Africa and Central America. Perhaps because he grew up behind the Iron Curtain, his books do not have that Western 'Us vs. Them' quality. Instead Kapuscinski, with knowledge and heart, introduces his readers to the lost corners of history." Magee recommends The Soccer War, The Shadow of the Sun, and Imperium.

More about Ryszard Kapuscinski
+  Wikipedia entry on Kapuscinski
+  Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette review of The Shadow of the Sun
+  A 1997 interview with Kapuscinski, addresses Imperium
+  A 1987 interview conducted by Bill Buford for Granta

Alvaro Mutis

C. Max Magee covers the bases in his recommendation of this author: "None other than Gabriel Garcia Marquez called him 'one of the greatest writers of our time.' This Colombian author's life's work has focused, for the most part, on a single character, the incomparable Maqroll the Gaviero ["lookout"]. Several years ago he wrote seven novellas about Maqroll, a seaman who is one of literature's great wanderers, which have been collected as The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll. If you thirst for adventure and mysterious characters with great emotional depth, read Maqroll."

More about Alvaro Mutis
+  Wiki entry on Mutis
+  Interview with Mutis at BOMB Magazine
+  An English translation of Mutis's poem "Tequila" in AGNI
+  New York Review of Books's page on the collected Maqroll works
+  Max answers the question "Who is Maqroll?" in greater detail